Immortalized
by BillyMayesLivesOn
Summary: "One day this will all be over. The wars will be won, the battles will have been fought. The blades of our swords will rust. Grass will grow upon the once bloody fields, and they'll be nothing left of any of this. The land will heal itself, and people will eventually recover, as everything does in the end. We'll all be long gone by then but maybe, just maybe we won't be forgotten."
1. Decisions Made

**Chapter 1**

 **Decisions Made**

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The Tenth of October was a day of varying importance to the citizens of Konohagakure. Depending on who you were, it could go from a day of celebration and near worship of the Yondaime Hokage, the man who was able to, against all odds, defeat the seemingly invincible Kyuubi no Yoko as it nearly razed the village to the ground. Conversely, if you were one of the survivors of the attack or someone who had lost someone to the demon's fury, it was a day of mourning and remembrance. Many people simply tried to move on, though, and would partake in the festival commemorating the defeat of the beast and the sacrifice of their brave Ninja.

However, none of this applied to one young boy.

If you were to just take a glancing look at him as he ran past you on this day, you'd probably think nothing of it. Just another small child out for the festival, running around and enjoying himself. Upon closer inspection though, you'd begin to notice that a few things were off, to say the least. The first thing that you'd likely notice is that unlike the rest of the children out playing on this day, this child wasn't running around for joy, he wasn't sprinting as fast as his little 4 year old legs would carry him to play, despite how much it looked like he was about to keel over from exhaustion. If you were able to get a good look at his clothing, a simple gray t-shirt with a red swirl on the front, and some blue shorts, you'd notice that they were stained, tattered, and torn, and judging from the smell hadn't been washed in a while, either. His usually vibrant blonde hair was matted down around his face in many places, and there were splotches of both mud and dried blood in various places. Along either side of the young child's face, there were two distinct markings, which could almost be mistook for whiskers, in the right lighting. But the most distinct feature about the boy, were his electric blue eyes. Normally so full of life and promise, tonight, as he ran through the streets, they were filled with the most soul crushing fear a 4 year old could muster.

Why were they filled with this fear? This anguish that no child should ever have to bear? Well, because tonight, while for others was a night of recollection, of hope, of joy, and of sorrow, for this child it was a night of absolute terror for a reason he had no idea. You see, it was known to all of the adults in the village that this child held the very beast that had nearly destroyed their village. Due to a lack of understanding of the obscure art of Fuuinjutsu, it was mistaken that the boy was the demon fox itself, merely in a human form, instead of the boy containing the demon's raw power. Unfortunately, due to the inability to distinguish between the kunai and the scroll it is sealed in, the boy lived in constant fear, neglect, and near isolation, which was only amplified on this day, the anniversary of the attack.

Officially, under the Sandaime Hokage's ruling, no person who was under a specific age was allowed to speak of the burden one Uzumaki Naruto carried, with a severe penalty for those who trespassed against it. However, this did nothing to quell the hatred the boy had to deal with. And today, a day which should have seen him as a hero, he was viewed as an object of vengeance for nearly all who had lost so much in the attack 4 years ago.

As you can imagine, a 4 year old can only run so far, can only hide in so many places, and can only take so much before they slip up, and for one so young, it doesn't take much. It wasn't long into the night that young Naruto had already vacated his first three hideouts, and was one his way to his fourth, before he found himself cutoff from his escape, and routed into a small, back alley. As he realized his mistake and subsequent trapping, he spun to try and leave this dead end, only to find his only escape cut off by several of the more drunk, and violent, villagers. Armed with various weapons, and with all the liquid courage seeping through their veins, they had chased and pursued so child, until they had eventually cornered him. The apparent "leader" of the group, if you could call him that, advanced on the boy, who by now had backed up as far into the alley as he could, desperately searching for a way out, and finding none. With panic in his eyes, Naruto began to desperately plead with them, but it would prove to be to no avail, as the man hefted his makeshift club, and brought it down upon the child's arm that he had raised to defend himself, breaking it. Crumpling like a ball, Naruto closed his eyes, and waited for the sweet embrace and serenity of unconsciousness, as the beating from the man continued, and others moved to join in, intending to finish him off, and finally avenge their fallen comrades and family.

Luckily, or unluckily, if you happened to be a member of the mob beating the young boy, the next blow to strike the child's prone form was deftly caught, and its owner swiftly kicked in the chest and disarmed. All movement stopped as all members of the mob began to realize just who had stopped, in their eyes, their rightful vengeance. The new arrival's large frame slowly and deliberately turned around, and as his white hair parted, the members of the mob could only stand helplessly as they were met with the eyes of a man barely containing unbridled fury. The killing intent radiating from the newcomer was paralyzing, effectively neutralizing the untrained and unfit villagers and rooting them to their spots. One by one, the man glared a hole into everyone's eyes, before quickly and violently dropping his killing intent, but continuing to stand in between them and the fallen Naruto. The message was clear, and the mob quickly dispersed, nearly trampling their fallen comrade in the process. No matter how inebriated they may have been, everyone in the village knew who this legend was. After all, there was only one man in the world who wore a headband with the kanji for "Oil" on it, and he was not to be trifled with.

Jiraiya sighed to himself, and turned back to the matter at hand, namely, the beaten and unconscious child at his feet. Stooping low and cradling the child in his arms, he took to the rooftops, already headed in the direction of the hospital. He had heard throughout his travels of things like this happening to the young Naruto, but had always down played it in the back of his mind as exaggeration, for surely the Sandaime wouldn't allow something as cruel as this to happen. Jiraiya had trusted in his old Sensei, after the old man had refused the Toad Sage's request to take the boy with him at birth to travel the Elemental Nations. After tonight though, witnessing firsthand the dangers and suffering Naruto had to undertake, he made a decision. He was Naruto's _Godfather_ , and dammit if he wasn't going to take care of him. Naruto _was_ going to leave this village with him, and he wasn't taking "no" for an answer. As the hospital came into view, and Jiraiya began to slow his approach, he steeled himself for the backlash that he would soon be dealing with.

Tomorrow, Jiraiya would be having a chat with the Sandaime, and he didn't think Hiruzen was going to approve of his decision.

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 **Author's Note:**

 **Alright, so as you guys can probably tell by the writing, this is my first fic. I've read a lot of great work on this site, so I figured I'd try my hand at it. I've seen other works on here/authors that do really great work so hopefully I can live up to them. This chapter ended up being a bit shorter than I originally planned out, but that's fine because I think I accomplished all I needed to for an introduction. Quick shout out to Kenchi618 because it was while reading "The Sealed Kunai",that I came up with this idea. Guys, I plan on making this story rather epic in sheer terms of length, and I'll be trying to update as quick as I can, so I don't leave ya'll hanging.  
**

 **That's all I got, Out.**


	2. Transfer of Custody

**Hi! BillyMayes here with another outstanding chapter! (Get it? Like the old commercials?) To those of you who reviewed and are enjoying the story so far, thanks! Like I said, I'll try and keep it updated quick, but no promises. I do have work and such. Anyways….**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Transfer of Custody**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man of routine. Now, normally, as a Ninja, and especially as a Hokage or any other ranking person in a world full of assassins, cutthroats, and betrayals, a routine is something that you vehemently try to avoid. When most men fall into a routine, they become a prime target for assassination, as then become predictable and thus, easier to track. However, the Third Hokage was not most men. A powerful Shinobi in his own right, owner of the monikers "The God of Shinobi" and "The Professor", and two time Hokage after the fall of his successor to the hands (or should I say, paws) of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Hiruzen Sarutobi allowed himself to fall into a steady routine.

Approaching his twilight years in life, and certainly being one of the oldest in his chosen profession, Sarutobi had fallen into such a routine that helped to ease his old and brittle bones, but that isn't to say that he became any less vigilant. All it meant was that he no longer had the energy or the care enough to constantly change his daily life to become less of a target. So, when he was sitting behind his desk, gazing out over his beloved village at precisely 930 in the morning, drinking his tea as he watched the village he so diligently protected and lead come to life, he was understandably quite surprised when his one of his wayward students hopped through the window, nearly knocking him over in the process.

Composing himself, and deftly managing to move out of the way of the large man that had just unceremoniously let himself in during what was quite possibly the only quiet moment of his day, Sarutobi turned around sighed. 'Why couldn't he ever learn how to use a door?', he idly wondered to himself as Jiraiya dusted himself off and leaned against one of the walls, crossing his arms as he did so. Hiruzen glanced up at his former student, a smile beginning to form on his face, until he made eye contact with the Sannin, when his smile faltered. He'd known Jiraiya for many years now, and could tell from the look on his face that this wasn't merely a social call. Taking a final sip of his tea and finishing it, he placed the now empty cup back onto the desk before clearing his throat and addressing his student.

"Ahh, good morning, Jiraiya. I was unaware that you were back in the village. Perhaps the ANBU are getting sloppy?", Hiruzen chuckled at himself, as Jiraiya merely closed his eyes and let a small grin form on his lips. His Sensei always did know how to ease the tension in the room.

"Please, Old Man, we both know that none of them could ever find me unless I wanted to be found. I may not have been the stealthiest of the three, but I certainly wasn't the worst one." Jiraiya joked back.

"So, such an unceremonious visit. Am I correct in assuming that you aren't here to simply update me on the progress of your spy network? If that were the case, you could have let an ANBU deliver the report as you usually do so you could stay in the field. What brings you here, not that I'm not pleased to see you, of course." At this, the only active member of the Sannin pushed himself off of the adjacent wall, and moved himself over to in front of the Hokage's desk. His expression turned from one of mild amusement to a more serious one, a rare sight for the usually jovial sage.

"Sarutobi." The tone of his voice left no room for discussion, and Hiruzen was instantly on guard. Jiraiya only ever called him by that in dire circumstances, and it had only happened a few times before, most recently, when they had discovered Orochimaru's treachery, and before that, when Jiraiya had attempted to talk Hiruzen into him raising Naruto. "I've made a decision involving Naruto, and I doubt you'll like it. I'm letting you know this out of courtesy, and because you'll no doubt have to inform the council of it, and I don't think they will approve of my decision either."

The aging Hokage's brow furrowed, and he momentarily contemplated brewing some more tea. 'Kami, not even 10 in the morning, my students never would let these old bones rest, I suppose', he thought to himself before turning back to the matter at hand. "Jiraiya, I've very well aware of your stance on the matter and where you think the child belongs, but the council convened and there's nothing I can do on the matter. Naruto has to remain in the village." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as he saw Jiraiya slightly tense his jaw, and he would continue to do so as the man began to speak, enlightening him to what happened the night prior, and how the situation had been handled. "Jiraiya, I am aware of the problems the boy faces. I have done everything in my power to keep it from happening, however, I cannot be everywhere at once, and I cannot order my Ninja to have a 24 hour guard on him when it comes with the cost of attacking civilians. Now if w-".

Jiraiya cut him off with a dismissal wave of his hand, before speaking himself, "I'm aware of it. For the past 4 years you've sat by and done next to nothing for Naruto. He's been routinely beaten, malnourished, and abused both emotionally and physically. If I hadn't been there last night who know what might have happened. I've made my decision, Sarutobi, village be damned. I refuse to allow Minato's legacy, my Godson, to be treated this way. I'm taking him with me, Old Man. I have to do this." When Jiraiya finished, his voice was soft, but no less sound. He locked eyes with the Sandaime, and neither were wavering in their contact. "You can't stop me this time, Sarutobi."

To say that Hiruzen was angry was an understatement. The man was known for his sounds mind, and sounder judgement. However, one thing that was a surefire way to irritate him to no end was to blatantly disrespect him, and then in the same sentence disregard his orders, both of which just happened, and from a man he already gave a large amount of leeway to. Now, at this point in his life, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a considerably short man, but that isn't to say that he didn't cast a particularly long shadow, so to speak. He was, after all, the Hokage for a reason. Remaining sitting, Hiruzen did not glare at his former student, but he did make the most intense eye contact he could muster with the Toad Sage, causing the man to harden his own gaze in return. "We have had this talk before, Jiraiya. I have made myself abundantly clear that Naruto _will_ remain in the village. You _will not_ be taking him with you, or have you forgotten your place?" The Hokage spoke with no venom in his voice, only the authority of his position.

Jiraiya at this point at least had the decency to look slightly befuddled, not at the Hokage's declaration, no, they'd had that talk before, but at the seriousness and power in his voice. It had been many years since he had seen the Sandaime talk with the authority of his position, since the man usually chose to be a soft spoken mentor in his later years. That was fine, though. The Toad Sage was a master orator himself, and even if this went sideways (which he was relatively sure it might) he had planned a contingency, anyways. "It's a good thing you're sitting down then, because you're not going to like this." Jiraiya paused, before steeling himself. These next few minutes were rather critical, and they were almost certain to be unpleasant. "Hiruzen, I've already taken him out of the village. Naruto will be living with me, now. I plan on training him in all-". Jiraiya was unable to finish as the Sandaime took that moment to stand up, locking eyes with the Toad Sage and made his presence known, speaking with a voice that made it very clear who ran the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a voice that would have cowed all but the most experienced Ninja into instant submission. He was going to remind his wayward student who was in charge. Jiraiya, to his credit, only slightly winced, there was something to be said about a angering a peaceful man, after all.

Shinji Arisako was a diligent and smart man. Through hard work and dedication he had become a Chunin, and then at a later date, had been assigned as one of the mission dispatchers. It was while he was bringing up his daily reports to the Hokage for approval that he stopped outside the oak door leading to the Hokage's office. As Shinji's hand went to knock on the door, he could clearly hear the Hokage reprimanding somebody, and that person attempting to justify their position. The sheer hostile intent radiating from the room was suffocating, and Shinji's hand slowly fell to his side. "Looking" through the reports he was supposed to bring up, he aptly decided none were actually of significant importance, and swiftly turned on his heel back to his own desk. Shinji Arisako was after all, a smart and diligent man.

 _Several Hours Later, North of Konoha_

A small forest toad looked around its surroundings, before opening its mouth wide, as a large human arm jutted out of it. Soon followed a head, shoulders, and eventually the entire broad frame of Jiraiya, cradling in his arms a still asleep Naruto. Looking down and smiling at his Godson, Jiraiya couldn't help but he slightly troubled. Not too long ago, the Kage Bunshin he had left in Konoha to talk to the Sandaime had dispelled, giving the original Jiraiya all the memories it had obtained. To say the least, the Sandaime was less than pleased about the outcome of the situation, but had soon calmed himself once it was revealed that Jiraiya had already left the village with the young Jinchuriki.

Jiraiya, while maybe not the best with strategy, had always had natural talent for tactics. So, when he had decided to take Naruto with him on his travels, he had promptly made several Kage Bunshin, and set them all out in different directions, all with a Henged Naruto in their arms. Then, the original had summoned a small, transport toad, and climbed inside with his new charge, and made way to the North, towards the Land of Iron, which had been his next stop after Konoha, anyways. Smiling to himself, he began tree-hopping at a leisurely pace, knowing he was already far beyond Konoha's borders and far enough that any pursuit of him would be quite some time off.

As he moved along towards Iron Country, he couldn't be more pleased with himself that his escape went so well. That isn't to say that he didn't feel bad, though. Was he remorseful for what he had done? Not in the slightest. He was more than happy and twice as able to protect, raise, and train Naruto as nearly anyone in the village. Jiraiya was, however, upset that he had put his Sensei in such a tight spot, so to speak. The Sandaime was probably on his way right now to the Council Chambers to inform them of what had transpired over the past few hours. Suffice to say, the Toad Sage was upset that he had to force his teacher and friend into that situation, but there was little to be done for it. He looked down at his new charge, and smiled once again, at least he now had some company, and he was sure Naruto would be happy to be able to start finding his own place in the world, and the attention he would get from the Sannin could only be a positive thing.

Jiraiya continued his journey, already making a mental checklist of the things he would need to purchase in the next town he passed through. All rations would need to double, as would clothing, and various other items and amenities, but that shouldn't be a problem. Knowing how to make storage seals greatly assisted with traveling, and being an accomplished author had made the man quite rich, so he wasn't particularly worried.

All in all, Jiraiya was pleased with the decision, and he could honestly say he was looking forward to the next 6 years he would spend with his Godson, before he had to return him to Konoha. He slightly frowned at that, but some concessions had to be made to avoid having the whole of Konoha's hunter-nin force come searching for himself and Naruto. Once the Sandaime had calmed himself, he and Clone-Jiraiya had begun discussing what would happen, and if/when Naruto would return to the village. Sarutobi had been adamant that Naruto eventually return to be a Ninja of the village, reluctantly, Jiraiya had agreed. The boy would need to be able to bond and interact with people his own age, and especially with the citizens of the village. So, the Sandaime and the Toad Sage had eventually come to an agreement. Naruto would spend the next 6 years with Jiraiya, and upon his tenth birthday, he would return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and enroll in the Academy, where he would learn to interact with people his own age. Jiraiya knew that the council would be less than pleased about the agreement, but, the last active member of the Sannin was quite elusive when he wanted to be, and if he decided to go dark, there was little the council could do about it.

Jiraiya looked down once again at the 4 year old in his arms as it snuggled into his broad chest, attempting to be just a little bit more comfortable as the large man jumped through the trees, and smiled. Yeah, this wouldn't be so bad after all.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, there you have it. Jiraiya had enough, and finally decided to take Naruto with him, consequences be damned. How will the absence change Konoha? Will Sarutobi murder Jiraiya on his return? How will Naruto react when he returns? All this and more, next time on… Immortalized!**

 **But for real, don't worry, Naruto won't come back at the ripe old age of 10 as some sort of S class badass. He will be stronger, but not absurdly strong. There's no point in a story if the MC never has any sort of challenge.**

 **Until Next Time, Out.**


	3. New Arrivals, New Beginnings

**Hey! I'm BillyMayes and I'm back once again with another fantastic produ-chapter! Definitely mean chapter. Yeah. Absolutely wasn't talking about a ShamWow or something…**

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 **Chapter 3**

 **New Arrivals, New Beginnings**

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Two figures walked leisurely down the well beaten path. Moving along in a comfortable silence, but by no means attempting to be stealthy, the smaller of the two looked up, taking in the massive walls that signified the outermost border of Konohagakure no Sato. The young man raised his left arm up to his head, brushing the moderately long dull blonde hair out of his eyes, raising one of his eyebrows objectively as he did so. The much larger, and older man, glanced down at his charge, and couldn't help but break out into a grin. Naruto was attempting to hide it, but the now revealed Toad Sage could easily tell that he was apprehensive about his return, to say the least. In truth, Jiraiya's reading of the young Uzumaki wasn't far off from the truth. Over the past 6 years, Naruto had grown by leaps and bounds, and was far from the little defenseless child he had been when Jiraiya had taken him from Konoha. This isn't to say though that he wasn't going to be very cautious upon his now short off return. The atrocities that had been committed against him were still very fresh in the 10 year olds mind, and he wasn't likely to forget them anytime soon.

"You know, I highly doubt anyone will recognize you, Naruto. You'll be a fresh, new face as far as most of the citizens are concerned. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if anyone who still wished you harm were few and far between." The old Toad Sage contemplated, stroking his chin in forethought. Although the old man was quite insufferable at times, there were also many where Jiraiya was more than happy to offer his worldly experience to his young charge, a trait which Naruto had quickly come to appreciate. "Plus kid, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up being quite the stud!" The broad shouldered man laughed heartily at this, throwing his head back and closing his eyes at his Godson's flustered reaction.

The youth in question could only shake his head sheepishly, as he walked along the path, continuously gaining ground on the ever approaching gates. Naruto had changed a large amount in the 6 years he had been gone. On a purely superficial level, the boy had grown into a respectable 4' 10", and had changed his attire from the old rags and barely fitting clothes he used to wear. After Jiraiya had insisted upon him changing his wardrobe to look more like a Ninja (and the subsequent battle over the color orange and how it had no place on his being), Naruto had relented, and allowed the Toad Sage to get him outfitted. Currently, the young Uzumaki was dressed in a pair of loose fitting black shinobi trousers which were bound down at the ankles with bandages, connecting into a pair of standard black shinobi combat sandals. The bond was wearing a form fitting dark green sleeveless shirt, which managed to show off his decently toned and muscled arms quite well. His hands were encased in a pair of black fingerless gloves, and currently, both of the dull blonde's arms were resting at a comfortable angle of the long, black sheath of the katana he was resting across his shoulders. Upon closer inspection, it could be revealed that the sword was not a standardized blade that anyone could pick up at any one of the various weapons shops scattered throughout the Elemental Nations. This blade was truly one of a kind, and this wasn't evident from the sheer craftsmanship that went into the blade as a whole, from the lowest point of the pommel to the sharp tip of the blade. The hilt itself was made with a wooden finish, clothed in a handgrip of dark orange cloth, with breaks in the shape of diamonds falling straight up the center. This flowed into the handguard which instead of a typical rectangle, was in the shape of the Uzumaki Swirl, with each point of the spiral flowing back into the hilt itself. The blade was a midnight black, with a groove down the center of each side somewhat reminiscent of a chokuto, which had been filled in and treated until once again, the color orange shown through. And finally, the sheath itself was a simple black, with an Uzumaki crest decorating the area just under the separation.

Ordinary, and as he would come to in later years, Naruto would sling the katana over his shoulder and wear it in a standardized back harness, but soon after receiving the sword he had realized just how short he actually was. Instead of sealing it away like Jiraiya had suggested, though, the up and coming Ninja had elected to carry it with him wherever he went. If Naruto was being honest with himself, he never felt whole without his sword. It was like carrying a piece of home with him, especially after he had learned just where the sword had come from.

* * *

 _It had been 4 months since Jiraiya had left him. Well, not really left him per say, but the Sannin definitely had chosen to leave him behind while he attended to some "personal business" as he had called it. So, the Toad Sage had called in a favor to an old friend, Mifune, the current leader of Iron Country. After no small amount of begging and promising a surprise for the old samurai upon his return, Jiraiya had turned Naruto over to Mifune and promptly exited the country to deal with whatever had come up._

 _Naruto, being his hyperactive self, and this only becoming more and more amplified as he grew, had quickly taken to not only training on his own, but had begun to watch the Samurai train in their own respective forms of Kenjutsu. It wasn't long before Naruto had become infatuated with the way of the sword, and had begged and annoyed Mifune to no end until he agreed to train the boy. The young Uzumaki had taken to Kenjutsu like a fish to water, and it wasn't long before he had begun training with the regular samurai and, through a clever use of shadow clones, had started to learn at an astonishing rate. Upon his return, and when Jiraiya had discovered this, he smiled to himself. 'Should have guessed the brat would find some way to get ahold of a sword. Kushina… Kushina would be proud of him."_

 _Later that night, Jiraiya had sat the heir to the Uzumaki down and handed him a scroll. Confused, Naruto cautiously pricked his thumb, and spilt some blood across the seal. In a quick puff of smoke, the sword Naruto would come to see as an extension of himself sat across his lap. With the sword was a letter, and while Jiraiya never read the letter himself, he was able to discern one major thing._

 _It had been signed "Your Loving Mother, Uzumaki Kushina". Apparently, he now had some explaining to do to Naruto about his family, but he supposed that that could wait until morning. He almost missed Jiraiya signing a copy of a familiar little orange book and handing it back to Mifune._

* * *

Since that day and the following conversation on who his parents were, and then following _that_ freak-out about just who his parents were, the sword aptly named "Kaze no Karitoriki (Wind Reaper)", rarely left his side. To Naruto, the blade was a piece of his mother that he could carry with him everywhere he went, and when he was in combat, it was like his mother was fighting by his side. He sighed, before being pulled out of his thoughts by the Toad Sage once again speaking to him. "Alright, Naruto. When we come up on the village, the first thing we have to do is report in to the Hokage, then we need to get you enrolled in the academy. After that, you're free to do as you want. I'll probably be busy with my…research…" the self-proclaimed super pervert managed to proclaim right before he nearly broke down into a fit of giggles. Naruto looked over his shoulder at his Godfather. 'Kami… and he's one of the strongest shinobi on the face of the Earth…go figure.' Naruto thought to himself, before returning his gaze to the road ahead of him, and the near ominous looking gates they were approaching. "Whatever you say, Ero-Sensei. Just try not to get us thrown out of the village like that time in Kumo, alright? I don't ever want to have to have to try and outrun a bunch of pissed off kunoichi with swords again…" The blonde mused, mostly to himself as he had come to realize that his Sensei was next to useless when he got like this.

* * *

Kotetsu glared across at his old friend, Izumo, and sneered. Izumo glanced back up at him, a bead of sweat dropping across his brow, as he rearranged the cards in his hand, before locking eyes with his longtime pal-turned nemesis. He looked down at his hand once more, before making his decision. He had to trust his gut. His gut and instincts had gotten him through so many missions, gotten him through so many tight situations that it would be absurd to not trust it. It didn't matter that this was the last hand of the game, which had become so high stakes that even The Legendary Sucker Tsunade wouldn't have taken the bet. But he was in too deep now, too deep to back down. He was ten miles behind enemy lines and if Kotetsu's smirk was anything to go by, he was screwed anyways. May as well go for it.

Steeling himself after wiping the sweat off his brow one final time, he locked eyes with his opponent, "Kotetsu… do you have any…." Izumo briefly hesitated, the tension in the air so think it could be cut with a rusty butter knife, as he locked himself in and finished his question, "4's?"

If nothing but a sheer look could kill, Izumo would have died a thousand deaths from the smirk and following victorious screams that sounded from Kotetsu. His eyes widening, Izumo nearly dropped his cigarette, as he stared, open mouthed at his now former friend, who had picked up his newly acquired prize, and had begun to gloat in an obscene manner. Izumo's hands dropped to his sides, as he was utterly defeated, and his head fell to the table, tears forming in his eyes, and vengeance forming in his heart. He had just lost his most prized possession, a once in a lifetime photo, of a certain Yuugao Uzuki while she was in the world famous Konoha Hot Springs. The photo had cost him multiple shattered bones, several stab wounds, and 4 concussions, and that was only the first day. The photo and him had been through many, _many,_ good times together, but now, he watched on in abject horror as Kotetsu carefully pocketed the picture, making some remark about how he "couldn't wait for tonight!" This was, consequently, the straw that broke the camel's back, and Izumo wasted no time in launching himself across the table and locking his hands around Kotetsu's throat as the latter attempted to desperately fight off his now enraged friend.

This was the scene that Naruto and Jiraiya walked up to the gate upon. As the two travelers watched the scene, they glanced at each other, then back to the spectacle in front of them, and once again back to each other. Jiraiya shrugged, and was just about to clear his throat and make himself known, when a photograph drifted down to in front of him, landing face down, apparently pushed out by the brawl occurring in the guardhouse mere feet away. Bending down and picking it up, it wasn't long before he had once again broken down into a hysterical fit of perverse giggles, before immediately pulling out his notebook and beginning to scribble feverously, a small trickle of blood dripping down his nose, and his signature peeping face plastered across his face. Naruto, guessing immediately what was happening, was quick to steal a glance of the photo as well, and then with a speed that someone wouldn't have expected from a person his age, wiped the blood from his nose while filing away a mental image. Naruto wasn't a pervert, by any conventional means, at least. That isn't to say that he didn't enjoy the wonders of the female body. He was a budding man, after all.

Several minutes later, after gleaning all the 'inspiration' he could from the photo in question, Jiraiya tucked both his ever present notebook and the evidence away. Grinning at Naruto one more time before clearing his throat, he walked up to the front of the guardhouse, finally gaining the attention of the two completely distracted gate guards.

Izumo glared up at the offending party who had dared stop his righteous vengeance, already beginning with a witty retort that quickly died in his throat once he saw who he was addressing. Kotetsu also glanced over, after wondering what could possibly have happened to stop the assault on him. Effectively prying Izumo's hands from around his throat, both men quickly stood to attention, having the decency to look just a little bit ashamed at what they had been caught doing. Jiraiya looked down at the two Chunin, crossing his arms, he slowly and deliberately looked each man dead in the eye, attempting to convey just how unacceptable this behavior was.

Izumo opened his mouth to start a preemptive protest, but the words died in his mouth as Jiraiya threw his head back and let out his trademark laugh, soon joined in by Naruto, at his side. Through barely contained laughter, Jiraiya managed to hand over the paperwork necessary for entry to the village. "Kami, boys. It must have been one hell of a game to end up like that." Jiraiya laughed out, as he motioned to the now scattered cards that adorned the floor.

Izumo, for his part just mumbled something incomprehensible, while Kotetsu beamed at the Toad Sage. "You have no idea, Jiraiya-Sama. It was worth every second. Who's the kid? He looks familiar but I can't place him." Kotetsu asked, looking over at raising an eyebrow at Naruto.

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet you…" Naruto held out his hand as he trailed off. "Kotetsu. Glad to meet you, kid. Good to have you have in the village, actually. It's been too quiet since you left. No one can quite pull off all the pranks like you used to." Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well I'll see what I can do about that. No promises, though. I'm trying to make a good impression, this time." Kotetsu grinned at the sheepish young kid, before handing all of Jiraiya's papers back to the Toad Sage, and waving them through the gate.

For the first time in 6 years, Uzumaki Naruto stepped foot on genuine, Konoha soil. And honestly, it felt good to be home. He glanced once over his shoulder at the gatehouse when he heard Kotetsu scream something along the lines of, "It's missing! I know I put it in this pocket, where did it go?!" before dismissing it as one of the lighthearted shinobi's antics, and hurried to follow his sensei who was had now gained significant ground on him. They had a meeting to keep, after all.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was, for lack of a better word, spoiled. She was also highly competitive, which when the two were paired, is one hell of a combination. Now, when you take a girl who is used to always getting what she wants, and then you make her fight for something, one of two things is going to happen. The first being that she will simply give up on that particular item or obsession and attempt to get the next best thing (which is highly unlikely). Or, in the much more likely case, an instant rivalry will be formed between the two parties, ending only when one or the other gets the object of affection. So when Ino's longtime friend Haruno Sakura revealed to her that she wasn't the only one who liked Uchiha Sasuke, the friendship evolved to also form a friendly rivalry.

This was the exact subject that she happened to be arguing over with her best friend as they walked along one of the main roads of Konoha. Well, that, and among other things, the various amenities of being a woman and the certain frivolities that they enjoy. She was so enraptured in her conversation, that she didn't even have time to move out of the way when she rounded the corner, stumbling headfirst right into the lithe form of someone she didn't recognize. This was odd in itself, because being the social person that she was, it was a rare occurrence for Ino to not recognize somebody, especially in the streets near the Yamanaka Clan District. It was because of her befuddlement that she at first didn't even hear what the young boy said as he took one of his hands off the katana resting across his shoulders to help her up. "I'm sorry, what?" She stammered, as he pulled her up.

"Sorry about that, I should have been paying attention to where I was going. I'm sorry….?" Naruto said, finishing pulling the fallen Yamanaka to her feet, merely inkling his head as Jiraiya said something about going on without him, and not wanting to be in the way of young love. Naruto swore, sometimes the Toad Sage could be a real pain in the ass, more or less abandoning him in a village he hadn't been to in years.

"Ino, and this is Sakura. Are you new to the village? I haven't seen you around here before. Are you from a clan? You must be, you've got these two whisker ma-"The now introduced Ino was stopped in her tirade of questioning by the slightly embarrassed Sakura, who had deftly covered her friends mouth with her had. "Kami, Ino! No need to interrogate him! Sorry ahh, what's your name again?"

Naruto took a slight step back, before shifting his sword over to rest on one shoulder _(Think like Ikkaku in Bleach),_ bringing his right back to scratch the back of his head in his signature sheepish motion. "No, it's fine. It's been awhile since people have asked me stuff like that. I'm Naruto, and yes, I am from a clan, but it died out a long time ago, and I'm the last one. It was nice to meet you, Sakura-San, Ino-San, but I've gotta run, I'm already late, and I doubt that Jiji is going to be happy about it!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he took off down the road, before jumping, running up the wall of a nearby building, and taking to the rooftops, heading towards the Hokage Tower.

Back on the ground, Ino and Sakura watched him go, surprised by the sudden change in pace, and subsequently the slight, inadvertent demonstration of skill and chakra control that neither one of them had even begun to learn yet. "Well, he seemed cool. You think he's going to the academy with us tomorrow? Ino, you think so? Hello, earth to Ino!" Sakura waved her hand in front of her best friends face, finally gaining her attention.

Ino looked over her shoulder at the retreating form of Naruto as Sakura pulled her off and back along the street. "Yeah, sorry Sakura… There's just something about him that seems familiar. Like I've seen him bef-Ooo! Look at that dress! Come on Sakura lets go inside!" Ino called out as she in turn began the one dragging Sakura into the new shop she had seen, all thoughts of the strange boy she had recently met gone, for now.

* * *

Naruto hit the ground running, before launching himself straight up and forward at the Hokage tower, hitting the side feet first, and sprinting straight up the side. It wasn't long before he was nearing the top and right as he was coming parallel to the window which led straight into the Hokage's office, he launched himself straight outward and off the building, spinning as he threw a kunai through the office window, impacting on the opposite wall. Pulling on the ninja wire attached to the knife, Naruto changed his momentum and launched himself through the open window, landing on the floor of the office, before rolling once and coming to a stop on one knee, head bowed. 'This is it. Flashy entrance? Check. Recognition of authority? Check. Here we go.'

"Uzumaki Naruto, reporting as ordered, Hokage-Sama."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that brings us to the end of another chapter of 'Immortalized'. Hope you all enjoy. Just as a heads up, updating is probably going to slow down a little bit, now that I've got the base chapters down. As always Ladies and Gents, I do appreciate constructive criticism, I'm still relatively new to writing so all the tips I can get are greatly appreciated.**

 **'Till next time. Out.**


	4. The Foundations We Lay

**Good Morning! Or evening, depending on where you are, I guess. Whatever, I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'm kind of surprised, I didn't really expect this story to start taking off after just a couple of days, but it's pretty sweet, so thanks, guys. Anyways, back at it again with a new chapter of "Immortalized"!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Foundations We Lay**

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto, reporting as ordered, Hokage-Sama."

The Sandaime Hokage raised an eyebrow at the newest arrival to his office, through the damn window, no less. Absentmindedly wondering if he would be able to break that habit of the young Naruto before it became so ingrained that it wouldn't be possible, the Hokage appraised his new appearance. It had appeared by the boy's submissive and respectful greeting that he at least had gained some respect for people in a position of authority over the last 6 years. It could also be garnered that Jiraiya hadn't been idle in his training of the boy, if his (albeit flashy) entrance was to go by. Hiruzen Sarutobi was not often surprised, especially not it his old age. The old man had been through a lot in his life, after all, and there wasn't much he hadn't seen or done. However, it was with pleasant surprise that the old Hokage allowed a small smile to grace his wrinkled face as he gazed down at the young man that kneeled before him.

"Naruto! Please, please, stand up and come here, let me get a full look at you. It's been nearly 6 years since I've gotten a look at you." Gleamed Sarutobi, as Naruto stood to his full height, bringing his sword to rest in his standard position of across his shoulders. "And so respectful, too! Jiraiya must really have done a number on you these past few years!" At this, the Sandaime chuckled before lowering himself back into his desk, as the young Uzumaki began addressing the twice serving Hokage.

"He definitely worked me pretty hard, some days, Hokage-Sama. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I may not have had my real parents, but Ero-Sensei was the next best thing…" At this Naruto paused, grinning, before rubbing the back of his head in his trademark look. "…you know, being my Godfather and all."

The silence that filled the room could have been shattered by a pin dropping, which it very nearly almost was, although not in the form of a pin, but rather with the Hokage's signature pipe. The old man had pulled it out and began packing it with some special tobacco, from Rice Country, if he remembered correctly, when he heard Naruto's revelation. It wasn't the fact that Jiraiya was his Godfather that surprised him, no he already knew that, in fact, it had been Jiraiya himself who had told him the very same day that Minato and Kushina had revealed that they had chosen him for the title. No, the part that made the usually very composed and reserved shinobi nearly drop his pipe was the fact that Naruto himself knew of Jiraiya's stance in his life. The once revered God of Shinobi looked at the young Uzumaki, before snapping his head to the left, making eye contact with his former student. "Jiraiya, explanation. Now." By the tone in his voice and his clipped sentence, it was very clear to all in the room that there was no longer an atmosphere for tomfoolery, and serious answers would only be accepted.

Jiraiya, for his part, at least had the decency to look sheepish, as he took a page out of Naruto's book and scratched the back of his head in near-mock embarrassment. "Well, you see, Sarutobi… I actually had to tell him. It happened while we were back in the Land of Iron, you remember how I had to leave Naruto there for a little while I took care of a lead on a certain snake. Well, anyways I come back, and the kid has become quite the little Kenjutsu master, so I give him the scroll from Kushina, and as it turns out, she had sealed a letter in with her old sword, as well. Before I could stop him, Naruto had read the whole thing, and suffice to say, he can be _very_ persuasive when he needs to…" At this, Jiraiya had a momentary flashback of the Uzumaki in question, holding the last seal of some fire jutsu, with all of his compiled 'research' notebooks lying in a pile a short distance away.

"It's-It's alright, Hokage-Sama, I know why you hid it from me, but I'm stronger now! I've fought and trained and I'm good! I'm not worried about Tou-San's or Kaa-San's enemies! If they were going to send someone after me they'd have done it by now. I mean, everyone's got to know who I am. It's not exactly hard to figure out!" The young Uzumaki practically yelled, dropping the calm and collected façade that he had been carrying for the earlier part of his debrief. He walked over to the window, and stood facing inward, his face adjacent to that of the fallen Fourth Hokage's. "I mean, come one Jiji," Naruto sighed, not even noticing his slip of the tongue that reverted him to his younger self, "I don't know how I didn't see it, let alone everyone else. Aside from my whiskers, I'm a spitting image!"

Sarutobi looked onward, switching between Naruto and Jiraiya, before sighing to himself and looking down. For once, he was glad he had the foresight to send his office's ANBU guards out before the special debrief had started. He had been against keeping the truth from Naruto from the very beginning, but had been unfortunately overruled by the council, as had been happening more often than not lately. Ever since they had managed to grab more political power within the village in the short absence between the death of the Fourth and the ascension to power of the Third. Deciding to just make his decision now, in a rather short moment of impulsiveness, the Sandaime opened one of the many hidden drawers on his desk, and retrieved a scroll from inside. Steeling himself, he looked at the scroll in his hand one final time, before motioning Naruto over to him, and handing it to the dull blonde.

"Naruto, this was left to you by both of your parents. It contains everything that you will need to gain entrance to the Namikaze estate in the fourth quadrant of the residential area. The place was well protected with seals the last time I went there, so I'd follow whatever instructions were in there to the letter. You are free to leave, as I'm sure you'd rather explore your new home than stay here for a debrief that Jiraiya can easily handle." At that, and with a clipped "Hokage-Sama", Naruto placed the scroll in question into the pouch on the back of his left him, before standing and vanishing in a swirl of leaves via Shunshin.

After watching the young Uzumaki leave and verifying that the room's integrity was still secure, he brought his hands to his temple, rubbing his forehead slowly and in circles. He had a feeling that this meeting he was having with his old student was going to be over later, rather than sooner. This idea was only further cemented in his head as Jiraiya took a seat in front of him, producing a bottle of Sake and a pair of saucers from seemingly nowhere, setting them on the table and beginning to pour them both a gracious amount. Sarutobi merely looked up at his former student, before allowing a sly smile to slip onto his face once again. "So, he knows the Shunshin too, eh?"

Jiraiya, now finished pouring their drinks, handed one to his Sensei. "Hiruzen, you don't even know the half of it." And with that, he began to tell his Sensei what had happened since he had taken Naruto from the village so many years ago.

* * *

Naruto sat in the one place in the village he had always felt truly safe, sound, or secure, the top of the Hokage Monument. Or rather, more specifically, the top of the Yondaime Hokage's head. It made sense, now that he thought about it. For the first four years of his life, Naruto would take the long pilgrimage up the far side of the mountain, climbing the several thousand steps to the top of the monument. Once at the top the usually hyperactive four year old would just sit for hours on end on one of the various heads of the leaders of his village, sometimes in silence, but more often than not he would have a conversation with one or more of the stone statues. While he would have talks and make up dialogue between himself and the other leaders, his favorite to sit on was always that of the Yondaime. He had never understood why he always felt connected to that one, but now he had all the reason and more to understand the strange connection that he used to feel.

It was up here that Naruto would come to think, to vent, or just to have someone to talk to. He honestly couldn't even begin to count the times he had come up here. So as it was, it made sense that one of the first places he would come to after his return to Konoha would be the top of the Hokage Monument. As he took his usual seat placed in the forward-center of the Yondaime's head, overlooking the village, he couldn't help but sigh in content. While it was true that the village had left him with many awful memories full to the brim with abuse, suffering, and pain, those memories were also now six years past. Plus, Naruto was far from defenseless, now. Jiraiya had even told him on their return to Konoha that he would peg him at about mid-Chunin level, which for his young age he had been re assured was extremely well. When he had asked Jiraiya about his substantial growth, the Sannin had told him to just chalk it up to a combination of his own hard work ethic, Jiraiya's awesome teaching skills (his words, not Naruto's), and a very liberal amount of Kage Bunshin'.

It was now, while Naruto was sitting up here, which he was mulling over his recently acquired scroll. Sighing to himself and steeling his emotions, Naruto brought his right hand to his mouth, biting down on his thumb, and then smearing the now flowing blood across the sealing matrix of the scroll, unsealing it in a small pull of smoke. When the smoke had cleared, a small envelope lay in Naruto's lap. Wasting no time in picking it up and quickly tearing it open, Naruto began to read the last memento of his father, not even noticing, nor caring, about the tears that were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

Later on, he wouldn't remember it raining.

* * *

The Namikaze estate, it itself, wasn't really anything special to look at. This was a far statement from saying that it was a dump, but it certainly was nowhere near as grand as the Hyuuga Clan Compound, or anywhere close to as ominous as the now desolate Uchiha Clan District. No, the Namikaze estate was quite unassuming, and in all honesty, if you didn't know who it belonged to, the house itself could be mistaken for that of a well off merchant or that of an unassuming shinobi. It was a simple, two story building that was adjacent to the Nara Clan Compound on the left, and due to this was boarded on two sides that led into the large border wall separating the two clans, beyond which was the large forested area that the Nara used to tend their deer. All in all, the Namikaze estate itself wasn't anything to write home about.

Those were the first thoughts that Naruto had when he jumped off of one of the adjoining roofs of a nearby house, landing in the street directly in front of the home-his new home. Taking a breath, Naruto walked up to the front door of the house, and then following the instructions left by his father, swiped his (once again) bloody palm across the door, watching with subdued interest as a sealing matrix briefly appeared on the door, before he heard a small, but still quite audible, click. Steeling himself, and glancing around him real quick, Naruto gripped the door handle, opening it, and walking inside.

To say that Naruto was surprised, would be a slight understatement. There was not a hint of dust in the place, despite having been the equivalent of abandoned for the better part of 10 years. Everything in the room was still exactly as his parents had left it, and had he been old enough to remember it, he was sure nothing had changed. As he walked through the house, Naruto found himself constantly choking in near sorrow and reminiscent love. He walked through the kitchen of the house, idly placing Kaze no Karitoriki (Wind Reaper) on the large wooden table, as we opened cupboards and moved around, absentmindedly creating a couple of Kage Bunshin to clear out all of the expired goods. Even the passage of time cannot be stopped with seals, he noted, seeing one of his clones nearly lose its composure over a container of _very_ expired milk. Having enough of that, Naruto found himself in a hallway, with a door on either side. Mentally flipping a coin, he headed into the room on the left, and what he found there would occupy him for quite the extended time, to say the least.

Placing either hand on the desk in what was apparently his father's study, Naruto couldn't help but feel inadequate to his fathers recognized genius. On the table in front of him were several Hiraishin kunai, and unable to stop himself, Naruto immediately grabbed one, and threw it against one of the adjourning walls, waiting for the signature 'flash' that came to define the Yondaime. Frowning when it never occurred, he looked down at the desk, finding it littered with his late father's notes on his signature justu, but after quickly looking through them, it was discovered that Naruto would only be able to use them as a guideline to fashioning the jutsu for his own use, as unfortunately it wasn't as simple as being of Namikaze blood. Naruto replaced the notes, and made a mental one to get better at seals so he could one day come to use the Hiraishin. He did want to surpass his father, and all the previous Hokage, after all.

Exiting the room, he passed through the doorway opposite on the other side of the hall, and for as much mental preparing he had begun since he stepped through the front door, and for as much as he tried to compose himself, it was still quite hard to stem the flow of tears that came to his eyes as he found himself standing in a room that was very clearly meant for a newborn child. With a crib against the wall, a mobile hanging from the ceiling, and various chests and such around the room, it was obvious who this room belonged to, or was supposed to. Naruto kneeled down, and clutching the picture frame he had grabbed when he visited his parents old room, he broke down. Unable to hold back the proverbial damn that had finally burst, Naruto cried. He cried long, and hard, until finally it seemed that there were no more tears that would come, and then, glancing down at the picture held in his hands, he stood. He needed some air, and he still had a lot to do today.

"They were good people, Naruto. I loved Minato like my own son." Naruto jumped, but calmed himself when he recognized the voice belonged to Jiraiya. Naruto looked over his right shoulder at the man who had raised him for the last 6 years, and it was still quite evident that he had been sobbing. He looked back down at the photo in his hands, and his head drooped. Jiraiya walked a little closer to the young blonde, and placed one of his large hands on his shoulder, gripping softly, but still tightly. He was here to try and comfort his Godson, and, in the back of his mind he knew that this would take a while, so he was happy that he had already taken care of all of Naruto's registration for the academy.

"Hey, come on, we're back in the village! It's been years, so let's go explore! What was the name of that ramen stand you always used to talk about?" Jiraiya tried to prod the young man into some action, anything really, to get him moving. He knew Naruto, and the best way to get him out of a slump was to either train or to get him to the nearest ramen stand and allow him to gorge himself to his heart's content. And, considering that Jiraiya, although revered as one of the strongest ninja in the Elemental Countries, was also quite lazy when he chose to be, training was out of the option.

Naruto looked up at his Sensei, a small semblance of light returning to his blue eyes. "You mean Ichiraku's? I think they are still open, I didn't get the chance to check earlier because of the meeting with the old man…" Naruto trailed off as Jiraiya had at this point practically grabbed him and, after Naruto made sure to pick up Kaze no Karitoriki, shoved him out the door. Jiraiya, while not the best person to attempt to comfort others, was very adept at helping distract people from their problems. Unfortunately for Naruto, his current problem was one that only time and consistency could heal, and it was something that while other people may be able to help comfort him, it was ultimately something that he would have to face alone.

* * *

Saying that Ayame was bored was akin to saying that the ocean was wet. The stand itself was in something of a decline for the last few days, but it was sure to pick up again due to its close proximity to the ninja academy which was starting up tomorrow. Unfortunately, that was tomorrow, not today, and there had been no customers in the cozy little ramen stand today. No, today maybe she'd try and talk to her Dad, maybe convince him to close up the shop a little earlier than normal and she'd go out. As she was going through what she wanted to do for the next few hours to try and pass the time, she almost missed the short, lithe frame of an old family friend walk into the small, unassuming shop, and take a seat on one of the several bar stools. Seeing as how he was still unnoticed, the lone man raised an eyebrow at the young, petite woman behind the bar, who was seemingly staring off into space, before clearing his throat to get her attention.

Ayame was pulled out of her subconscious contemplating quick enough, and snapped her head around fast enough to nearly make her head spin. Blushing sheepishly, she raised a hand both in greeting and in an apologetic manner as she addressed the first customer of the day. "Oh! S-sorry! I wasn't paying attention… anyways! Welcome to Ichiraku! What can I get you?" Ayame manage to stammer out after a quick second of thought, pulling a notebook and pen out from her apron, preparing to take the strange, but albeit familiar, newcomer.

The short man looked up at Ayame, and she couldn't help but feel that she knew him from somewhere. There was just too much about him that reminded her of someone, but she just couldn't place it for someone. Naruto chuckled, and without even looking at the menu, ordered off of memory, nearly shocking Ayame with the sheer magnitude of his order. "Good afternoon, Ayame-Neechan! I'll take four bowls of miso ramen, two of pork, and three of chicken, to start! And, tell old man Teuchi I say hi!" Naruto called out, which was all it took for the wheels in the young bar maids head to finish turning, and she whispered at first, almost to herself, "…Naruto?"

All Naruto could do was grin, he was a little skeptical that the two ramen stand owners would know him, and the last thing he wanted to do now was have to reintroduce himself to all of his old friends. It was a pleasant change of pace, at least, especially since Jiraiya had bailed on him almost as soon as they left the Namikaze estate. He had said something about having to make a report or something, but in truth Naruto had only been half listening and he knew that if he needed the man he could always find him at the hot springs or the women's bath, partaking in his 'research'. It wasn't long before Ayame had bent as far over the counter as she could, grabbing Naruto and pulling him into a new bone crushing hug that he guessed was both happy to see him and was meaning to try and make up for all the years he missed. Naruto, whilst being suffocated by his pseudo older sister, barely was barely able to hear her calling out to her Dad and telling him to come up and see their long lost best customer.

It was here, being crushed to death by an absurdly strong ramen stand waitress, that Naruto realized just how much he had missed his traditional home. That's not to say that he didn't enjoy the many years he had spent traveling all across the elemental nations with Jiraiya, but it was nice to know that he now had a place to stay, with new and old friends both budding and waiting for him. As he spent the next couple hours at the homely little ramen stand telling tales of his travels with the great Toad Sage, Naruto came to a realization.

Maybe he was wrong about his misgivings about coming back to Konoha.

* * *

A few hours later, when the sun was setting over the back of the Hokage Monument, Naruto finally called it a day, and upon saying goodbye to Ayame and Teuchi, Naruto began his walk home, opting this time to take a longer, more scenic route, if you will, towards his new home, which in all practicality wasn't that far from the stand. Idly thinking that this may be a problem, considering he had quite the fixation on the sustenance of the God's themselves, Naruto rounded another corner, headed for home. He had a long day ahead of him, after all. And if he was being honest with himself, a long year until he could attempt to take the academy's final exam early, and become a Genin in one year instead of the typical 3. As smart and as strong as he was, the Hokage had refused to give him special treatment on the matter, and he would still have to attend just like every other Konoha Shinobi.

Oh well, he would make it work. It was doubtful, but maybe he'd even learn something, and there was always the possibility of making friends. The Hokage had made it seem quite adamant that he at least attempt to bond with his classmates, as it was very likely that he would eventually be working with them on missions later in life. Even Naruto had to admit that it made sense, considering having a rapport with someone made it easier to understand each other. As he turned onto his street and was greeted with the sight of his parents-his house-, he was reminded that currently the only bed in the house was his parents. He shrugged to himself, he'd send some clones out in the morning to renovate the house and change things to better suite his own image. Not that he wanted to completely erase his parents touch on the house, quite the opposite in fact, he simply needed to move some things around in the house to better suit him, since he was the only person who lived there, after all. He sighed to himself and opened the door to his home, glancing over his shoulder once at the moonlit night, before shutting the door and going to bed. Things were beginning to look up.

He never noticed the lone ANBU operative watching him from and rooftop down the road, and he would have no idea that they wrote something on a scroll before bending down, summoning a small raven, and sending it off, scroll in tow, before leaving the area themselves.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto looked up at the large frame of the Leaf's Ninja Academy building. Like most of the other buildings in Konohagakure no Sato, it was of a large wooden frame with a slanted roof. The building itself was set in a slightly sectioned off area of the village, with the back area of the academy opening up into several large training grounds that were used for various activities by the academy and its classes. All in all, if one were a small child attending the academy for the first time, it could be considered even ominous. However, for the newest resident of the village, it was just another building. What could he say? He had traveled the Elemental Nations for years, lived with one of the Three Sannin, and hell, he'd already jumped one of the major milestones for a ninja, that being obtaining his first kill. So all said, to Naruto it was just a building. Gripping his ever present katana, Naruto rested it across his shoulders, and headed towards inside.

Making his way down the hall, the young Uzumaki stopped at the last classroom on the left, and entered, unaware that the class was already underway. "Ahh, and you must be Naruto. Welcome to the class, you can take a seat in the open one over there. I'm Iruka." A Chunin with a large scar across his nose, hair done up in a spiked ponytail and a standard flak jacket greeted him, motioning him to a seat on the far side, next to what he assumed to be an Inuzuka and an Aburame, if the dog on top of the boys' head and the trademark coat and glasses, respectively, were anything to go by.

Nodding his head, and shuffling over to the aforementioned seat, Naruto swung his sword off of his shoulders and around his head before lowering it to the ground to lean against his chair, before taking a seat himself. The Inuzuka he soon learned was named Kiba, and Naruto had a feeling the two would get along just fine, considering how the young dog lover acted. And while the smaller Aburame, who he'd come to learn was called Shino, was just as stoic and 'logical' as he would have expected of a member of that clan, he too was just as welcome company to Naruto.

There were a few friendly faces in the crowd as well, though, in the faces of Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, so it wasn't as if Naruto was completely in the dark (although the two girls seemed much more interested in fawning over the brooding Uchiha heir than learning to become ninja.) Sighing, Naruto closed his eyes for a few moments, leaning his head back and crossing his arms.

Hopefully the year would be over soon, and then he could start on the long road to surpass his father, and become a true Ninja of the Leaf.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **And there you have it. Naruto has returned to Konoha, met up with some old friends, made a couple new ones, and has begun his (hopefully) short stay at the Academy. Soon, the story will start picking up, and I'm already planning everything out in my head where I want it to go and where I want it to end up. Who knows, the mind is fickle and is a constant friend to change.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	5. Gaining Ground

**Good Morning and welcome back for another (hopefully) great chapter of 'Immortalized'! I'd like to preface with a quick notice, that while I do enjoy and very much appreciate constructive criticism, straight up calling the work trash and the likes isn't really appreciated, nor is it actual constructive criticism. If you don't like the story, then just unfollow and back out, easy day, right? Anyways, onto the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Gaining Ground**

* * *

The first few days of the academy passed slowly for the young blonde, but if he thought about it, he should really have expected nothing less. For all of his faults, Jiraiya was actually a fairly good teacher, when he wasn't off conducting his 'research'. And if one were to take into account all Naruto had been able to glean from his and his Sensei's multitude of travels in addition to all the people he had me and in turn, learned from, it wasn't all that surprising that the academy was boring the poor kid to tears. All in all, Naruto himself even knew that he was drastically over the basic skill and knowledge required for any typical first year student.

Which is why, when one were to consider that this particular student knew the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and its benefits, it wasn't at all a far stretch to imagine that he'd send a clone to the academy, while he would remain at home and either train or explore his now-returned-to home. Which is exactly what the young Uzumaki is question was doing today. While he had made a good number of clones that remained at his house working on the various ninja arts from Fuuinjutsu to Ninjutsu, Naruto himself was out walking the village. It had only been a few days since he had returned, and although he had by this point managed to get in touch with all of his out friends and acquaintances (which weren't many, but still), and although he wasn't really looking for anyone or anything in particular, it was still nice to get out and about. While Naruto was enjoying having a house to himself, and was more so interested in looking through all of his past parents affects, every so often it would become too much for the ten year old. He may have been smarter and more mature than nearly everyone in his age group, but he was still only a child.

At was as he was walking along on this day, a short while after leaving his new, or would it be considered old, favorite ramen stand in the form of Ichiraku's, that he found himself wandering past the multitude of Konoha's training grounds, and upon hearing the unmistakable sound of something impacting the nearby trees, Naruto decided to check it out. He figured that the absolute worst case scenario would be that whoever was training would tell him to leave, but in a more positive light, he might even get a spar out of it. Walking into the grounds, Naruto was nearly caught off guard when all the noise ceased the minute he set foot into the clearing. Wondering if he had somehow imagined the noise or maybe it was just wishful thinking, he was about to turn and leave, but not before his instincts screamed at him, and so, after spending years out with Jiraiya and honing his instincts, Naruto spun on his heel, dropped his shoulders and in a fluid motion unsheathed Kaze no Karitoriki, using it to deflect the four shuriken that had been aimed in pairs at each of his shoulders.

Listening to his now raging sense of danger, Naruto only barely managed to spin his sword tip first into the ground before pivoting and holding himself above it by one hand, only just escaping a fuuma shuriken that had been sent at him from the left, before getting pulled back towards him on the now obvious ninja wire that was attached to its rotating center. Widening his eyes at the closing fast quad bladed weapon, Naruto was able to quickly make a Kage Bunshin that served its short lived purpose of pulling him out of the way before taking the hit for him. Falling on the ground in a misshapen bulk Naruto was unable to fully stick the landing, instead rolling off to the side and reaching for his abandoned sword. It was not to be, though, for as soon as Naruto looked over to where his blade stood, still quivering in the ground from where he had stabbed it, three things happened in rapid succession, and he never even stood a chance to avoid it.

First, the ground beneath him seemed to open up, sinking him knee deep into it before it hardened again, effectively trapping his legs. Reacting quickly for someone his age to this setback, Naruto was fast to begin blurring his hands through some seals, but before he could complete his chosen technique, a multitude of snakes emerged from around the tree almost directly behind him, encircling him and trapping his arms at his sides, the myriad of heads poking out of their constriction at the top, fangs bared and mere inches from his exposed neck. The third, and final thing that occurred in this matter of a few seconds, was that Naruto heard someone clapping, but not in the 'I'm-happy-for-you-good-job' way, but more in the condescending 'I'm-surprised-that-you-managed-to-get-that-far' slow clap. Looking up and over to his left, Naruto was able to make out the form of woman approaching him.

If he had to hazard a guess, she stood at about 5' 3, and had dark purple hair. The woman was dressed in a long gray trench coat, and although Naruto couldn't quite see from the angle he was at, it didn't appear that she was wearing anything underneath but some light fishnet clothing. Doing his best to ignore the several snakes that were still constricting in on his body, Naruto attempted to fix the woman with a glare, knowing it was a weak one at best.

"Well, what have we got here? I just _know_ that everyone here knows that this is _my_ training ground. And I also _know_ that everyone in this village knows not to disturb me when I'm… let's call it 'venting my frustrations'." The obviously agitated woman said to him, it what was quite honestly a sickeningly sweet tone as she maneuvered herself around behind him, before approaching the bound Uzumaki and drawing a kunai, placing it against his cheek, and slowly dragging it's tip along one of the two fading whisker marks there, drawing just enough blood to allow it to carry over onto the blade itself. Drawing the knife up to her lips, the kunoichi moved her head close enough to Naruto's side just to where she'd be slightly in view, and licked his blood off of her knife before fixing him with a predatory grin and speaking once again. "Ya know… the guys who think they are the strongest…their blood always tastes the best…" She moved her arm and the knife around to the other side of his head, attempting to cut him once more, but this time when she dug her kunai into his cheek, the 'Naruto' she thought she had popped out of existence in a small puff of smoke.

The kunoichi blinked once in mild surprise, before she bent her body back at an almost unnatural angle, dodging the blade that had appeared where her chest had been moments before. She moved in to strike, albeit holding back a large amount as she had already gauged her young adversary's level of skill. Watching as he jumped back, she lowed another kunai into her hand, looking the challenger dead in the eyes. "Clever use of a Kage Bunshin and a substitution, I like it. But you blew your trick early kid, so I hope you're ready, because Anko Mitarashi doesn't do the whole 'take it easy on the kids' thing." The now revealed Anko grinned as she dropped another kunai into her free hand, sure, she was no Kenjutsu expert, but she felt she could take on some punk kid, in the very least.

Naruto, meanwhile was honestly stumped. He had known of only one person in Konoha who had used snakes as a summons, and he _knew_ Orochimaru had defected from the village and left. Rolling back to his entry, he wasn't even sure what he had done to warrant being attacked like this, as to his knowledge all he had done was walk into the clearing to see what was going on, and before he knew it, he was trapped in a jutsu he would have had no chance of escaping had he not managed to create a clone the moment he was attacked. 'I have never been gladder that I was able to learn to make those seallessly than I am right now...' he mused and he was now pulling a full retreat through the woods. Naruto had contemplated trying to fight her, but as he had correctly guessed, she was a Jounin, and although quite strong for his age, Naruto wasn't even technically a Genin yet, and that was quite the power gap.

Naruto slammed his blade tip first into a tree, using the momentum to spin himself around it and into another, landing on it feet first, and then through a conscious overload of chakra through the soles of his feet, exploded off of the tree while flashing through hand seals for one of the few jutsu he had managed to truly master at this point, and with a shout of "Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!" he managed to force a large gale of wind to off balance the blur that had been Anko, noticing surprise written over her face with no small amount of pleasure, as he continued his assault, as he pulled four kunai from the pouch on his thigh, throwing them at the four limbs of Anko's body. As she contorted her body and dodged out of the way of his apparently wayward knives, Naruto grinned, not yet appreciating the merit of keeping a smooth face when in combat to avoid giving your opponent any advantage.

The Tokubetsu Jounin, being every bit deserving of her rank, had no trouble not noticing the small unannounced change in Naruto as he pulled his left hand back, revealing that the kunai had been attached to various ninja wire, effectively pulling the kunai that had passed her to spin on axis and return towards her back. Naruto had thought this through, a two pronged attack that spanned two fronts, and although he was a highly skilled Genin-to-be, Naruto was still just a kid, which is why when Anko spun on her hands and effectively dodged all of his kunai, effectively sending his own attack back at him, that he was quite surprised to say the least. Dodging his own attack wasn't too difficult as he used his sword to parry them and slide out of the way of the subsequent fireball that was sent at him from his left, but the attack that truly caught him off guard and ended the fight came in the form of Anko's now signature 'Sen'ei Jashu (Striking Shadow Snakes)" Appearing and latching onto his airborne leg, before pulling him down like a grape from a vine, and slamming him into several trees, and the ground, before relenting, right as the ground formed over his body, yet again. It wasn't long before the Tokubetsu Jounin who had launched the attack jumped gracefully out of one of the nearby trees, landing on the trapped blonde and straddling his earth-covered torso.

"You know kid, that wasn't too bad of a warm up. You're not too bad for a Gaki." Anko trailed off, as she sat on the young boy's chest, crossing her arms under her considerable bust, and revealing to Naruto that he had guessed correctly, and she in fact _wasn't_ wearing anything other than a fishnet mesh bodysuit and a small miniskirt. Glaring up at his captor, and doing his best to keep the red from forming on his face, Naruto finally found his voice. "Thanks, I'd say the same for you, but actually, I'm still pretty pissed about why I was attacked in the first damn place! Why the hell did you do that for, huh?! All I was doing was walki-"Naruto found his tirade promptly cut off as the once pleasant visage (and view) he had had of Anko was replaced rather suddenly with an angered face inches from his, and a kunai once again placed at his throat, not quite hard enough to draw blood, but enough so that when he swallowed on instinct it pained him. The look in Anko's eyes made it very clear there would be no room for negotiation in her next few statements, and she pressed the kunai he was now more than aware of into his throat slightly harder.

"Listen here, _Naruto_ " She grinned at his questioning reaction to her knowing his name. He didn't know that the talk of several of the upper class Jounin had been of the young Uzumaki's return. Hey, she could gossip too! "This is my training ground. Training Ground 44 is _mine_. Are we clear on that? This is my haven from the village. And most ninja know to leave me be, because what you just got was a very small dose of my skill, understand?" Upon seeing Naruto nod, and glaring into his eyes once more for good measure, Anko stood up, dusted herself off, and after returning her kunai to their various hiding places, she began to walk off. That is, up until she heard the angry blonde yelling at her from his place rooted to the ground. Turning back, she leaned against one of the various nearby trees close to where Naruto's head lie. "You're just going to leave me here? Tied up on the ground, knowing damn well I have no way to get out? Yeah, real fair you psychotic bit-"Naruto started before once again he was threatened that day with promise of death, this time in the form of a shuriken impacting the ground close enough to his head to take a few hairs off.

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Anko looked down upon her little captive, a thought forming in her mind, before leaning down directly in front and above him. "Hmm, well, I suppose I could be convinced to…"She trailed off, "for a price, that is. I haven't eaten yet today, and I could always go for some dango." She mused, before Naruto sighed to himself. With his luck she could probably eat dango like his new friend Chouji could eat, well anything for that matter. However, seeing as how he didn't really have a choice, he reluctantly agreed to treat the older kunoichi to her favorite treat, and before he could really grasp what was happening, he had been released from Anko's trapping earth jutsu and was being dragged through the streets towards some dango shop Anko knew. He had no idea his earlier musing about the similarities between the little Akimichi heir and the former apprentice of the Snake Sannin would be so undeniably true.

* * *

 _Several Hours Later_

Naruto exited the dango shop Anko had dragged him to, looking inside his much lighter wallet before grimacing and returning it its designated pocket on the back of his trousers. Sighing to himself before slinging his sword up and over his shoulders an bringing his arms to rest on it, he started his walk for him, a massive headache already on the rise from the massive dispelling of his clones a few moments prior. The trip out to the training grounds had certainly been an interesting trip, and although he had lost a considerable amount of his hard earned money buying Anko and by proxy himself, several plates of dango, he had finally (albeit begrudgingly) paid off his 'debt' to Anko for letting him out of her trap instead of leaving him there, and then after a few more plates, he had even convinced her to train with him when she wasn't on missions or busy. It may not have been as often as he liked, but now he had a legitimate training partner/sensei who would be around for a while. Seeing as how Jiraiya had left the day prior (he did still have to maintain his spy network), Naruto had found himself in a bit of a rut, training himself was simple and efficient when you could learn Ninjutsu and Fuuinjutsu from various scrolls, and chakra control was becoming second nature to him at this point, even despite his absurdly large reserve or chakra, but there were some things that you absolutely needed to learn with a partner, and Taijutsu for one thing, was something that you could only get better at by sparring against someone who was stronger than you.

Oh well, he mused. It had been a rather eventful day all around. He had a new pseudo-Sensei, and he had started to make strides into his studies into Fuuinjutsu. The only bad thing is that he had almost been killed a few times today, but he supposed he could write that off to a more than friendly spar and call it a day. He opened the door to his home, which had now been furnished, and stepped inside before heading upstairs to his parent's old bedroom, which he was still trying to get used to calling his own. He looked around and nodded, his clones had done a fairly good job of furnishing the house, which he supposed wasn't too surprising considering that his clones were well, him. As his headache became more borderline on the realm of a migraine, Naruto quite literally fell onto his bed, promptly passing out due to his now nearly healed wounds, exhaustion, and just general over exertion. His final thought of the night was that he figured Anko would be kicking him across the clearing many, many more times in the near future before was able to land a solid blow on her.

During his 'spar' with the Snake Mistress of Konoha, he had never noticed the ANBU in the trees, watching the entire match, and if Anko had seen him she never said anything, either.

* * *

Naruto had been outside in his ample backyard, working on his rendition of the Rasengan that he had been taught by Jiraiya many years ago, while off scattered around the small clearing were various groups of clones practicing everything from seal writing and kanji craftsmanship to Shurikenjutsu and even Ninjutsu theory. It was while we was working on attempting to get the Rasengan to its third step (He was still having trouble making that godforsaken rubber ball explode like Jiraiya had shown him several weeks ago), that he suddenly froze, stopping all activity between him and his clones, his eyes going wide as the memories of one of his dispelled clones reached him. More specifically, the clone who had been designated to go in his place to class, had fallen asleep at his desk during one of Iruka's more boring lectures. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem, but when Iruka had noticed this, he had thrown an eraser with incredibly accuracy, nailing the sleeping 'Naruto' directly in the head, and dispelling the clone. Ordering his remaining clones to continue their work, Naruto quickly grabbed Kaze no Karitoriki before disappearing from his yard in a flurry of leaves, before reappearing on a rooftop some distance away, and then repeating the process in a flurry of shunshins across the many rooftops of Konoha.

Between his realization of what had happened, the order to his clones, and then his mad rush across Konoha to the classroom, about 4 minutes had passed before Naruto appeared outside the window of the classroom, and then, waiting as Iruka finished yelling at the class to stay in their seats while he stepped out to go and talk to the administration office of the school, Naruto very stealthily opened the window at the rear of the room, and slipped inside, before walking over to his seat amidst the bewildered gazes of his classmates. Slinging his signature blade across his shoulders and placing in down beside his chair, the heir of the Uzumaki took his seat, leaned back, and let his hands fall into a comfortable position behind his head, doing his best to ignore the looks and the several questions he was getting from some of the more obnoxious members of his class, choosing instead to shut his eyes and lean his head back, right after glancing at his possibly best friend in the class, Kiba. He gave him a sly wink, mouthed "Kage Bunshin" to him. As Kiba was about to ask more questions though, Iruka chose that moment to enter the room, and upon turning around and seeing Naruto sitting in his class, he was unsurprisingly suspicious.

Walking up to the (seemingly) unassuming blonde, Naruto merely raised an eyebrow at the approaching teacher. "Is something wrong, Iruka-Sensei?" Naruto questioned, his hands still folded behind his head, head halfcocked to the side. But although he was doing a very amiable and quite impressive innocent look, on the inside the last Uzumaki was nearly panicking. Iruka had to know that something was going on, he had seen 'Naruto' literally poof into smoke! But he sincerely doubted that his teacher knew he was quite proficient in the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. If he played this right, he might be able to just get away free, but only if he were able to play it cool.

While all these thoughts were running through Naruto's mind, the scar faced Chunin instructor had made his way through the classroom up to Naruto's designated desk, still placed in between Kiba and Shino. Placing a hand on either side of the young boy's desk, Iruka got in close to Naruto, inspecting the child, looking over every angle of his face before leaning back and nodding, and turning to walk away. As he did so, Naruto moved to let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding, only to barely duck out of the way as Iruka spun and lashed out with his right first, hoping to cuff the boy on the side of the head, but only catching air, before revealing it had only been a feint, and threw a piece of chalk from his left hand, nailing Naruto directly between the eyes, and watched as the chalk not only made contact with him, but bounced off of his forehead, landing on the blonde's desk.

Naruto, for his part, looked only slightly disgruntled at the situation, before looking directly into Iruka's eyes, watching as the man simply looked at him, then the piece of chalk, then back to him, before nodding his head slightly, before grinning slightly. "Naruto…" began their de-facto Sensei, believing he had figured out how to find out whether or not one of his students had actually somehow managed to ditch class, while still being there, "What were we discussing in class right before I walked out?"

And this is when it was Naruto's turn to smile, for because of the greatness of the Kage Bunshin, he actually knew the answer. And he knew it would drive his Sensei insane on the inside to know that he knew, while not even being present, and that his sensei would likely lose sleep attempting to figure out how he accomplished such a feat, never once suspecting that Naruto knew the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. So it was with complete and utter confidence that Naruto looked deep into the eyes of his Sensei, and while everyone in the room watched with bated breath, he was able to respond coolly and with confidence, "Sure thing Iruka-Sensei. You were teaching us about the concept of Genjutsu and theory of illusions."

Iruka looked at him once more, before standing up, leaning back into his full standing position, and motioning to his co-instructor, Mizuki, telling him to take the class outside and to conduct them into sparring matches while he went and got a drink. Shrugging, Mizuki watched as Iruka left, the poor man could just get so upset sometimes, it was kind of funny to the silver haired Chunin. "Alright, you heard him, let's go get some…impromptu…sparring matches going. It'll be call out-fight out." And with that, Naruto sighed, grabbing his katana and followed the rest of the class outside. He glanced over in the direction of the lone Uchiha, Sasuke if he wasn't mistaken, the two had never really talked, but the brooding kid had been eyeing him ever since the first day he had shown up to class, and today was the first day where they were allowed to choose their sparring partners.

And Naruto knew exactly who would be itching at the chance to fight him, especially after the stunt he had just pulled in the classroom.

* * *

As the class reconvened around the sparring grounds behind the academy, looks and conversation were flying amongst the classmates, and for once, Naruto himself was actually participating, instead of it being one of his clones as per his usual M-O. Speaking of which, the current heir to the Uzumaki Clan was standing around with his typical group of friends, which consisted primarily of Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and even the classes own resident lazy genius, Nara Shikamaru (who was telling everyone just how much of a drag this sparring match would be), while Mizuki explained the rules to them, more or less culminating in one person calling out another to a Taijutsu spar, ending on his call.

"…And as usual, if and when I call the match, both participants will stop and leave the ring, when the next match will start. Any questions?" Glancing around, and gleaning from the lack of raised hands that there were in fact, no questions, Mizuki crossed his arms and stood center on the ring, before motioning to Chouji that he was first, who unsurprisingly, called out Shikamaru, and culminated into one of the most boring Taijutsu matches that many had ever seen. Naruto, watching the match, if it could be called that, just smirked and placed his head in hand, laughing softly about the comical mess it had been, especially when it ended when both parties involved in the spar more or less gave up after two or three punches.

Unfortunately, his jovial mood wasn't to last though, as the very next person that Mizuki called up was the one Uchiha Sasuke, who attempted to make a big show of his entrance, using a slightly chakra enhanced jump to land just to the right of Mizuki. Normally, Naruto would have just walked up to the ring, but today, today Naruto was feeling slightly provocative, and motioned over to Kiba, and handed him Kaze no Karitoriki (under very careful instruction to _only_ hold it for him) before he disappeared in a shunshin, reappearing to the left of Mizuki, and directly opposite of Sasuke, who he could tell was nothing less than pissed that Naruto knew something he didn't. Settling into the basic "Hachidori (Hummingbird)" kata that was favored by his father, and watching intently as Sasuke set himself in the standard Uchiha "Intāseputā (Interceptor)" stance, both boys eyed each other down, waiting for whistle-blow from Mizuki. When Mizuki's arm fell, he wasn't even able to fully get the word "Hajime (Begin)!" out of his mouth before Sasuke shot off like a rocket, headed straight for Naruto, dropping off at the last second and slipping to the right, moving to hit the blonde from the flank.

Although the Uchiha's style was built around the Sharingan and countering, it still had several aspects of offense, and Sasuke was hell bent on capitalizing on them. He tried not to let it show, but it annoyed him to no small amount that Naruto was constantly battling him for the metaphorical limelight in class, and these feelings had grown into a very large and deep rivalry which was largely one sided, and only served to deepen whenever Naruto would show up in some aspect of the academy. By his logic, he would never be able to defeat and kill his brother if he wasn't the best in the class, the Uchiha were the superior clan of Konoha, and it was his duty as the last remaining loyal one to avenge his family's legacy. Unfortunately for the young Uchiha, Naruto had spent years training with one of the Three Legendary Sannin, and that man's speed was nothing to laugh at. So while he had never actually fought against the man while he was at full strength, his speed still completely dwarfed that of Sasuke.

So when the avenger charged at Naruto, he had no problem shifting his weight to the side, and then ducking under the boy's sweeping leg kick, before appearing inside Sasuke's card and delivering three quick strikes to his solar plexus which mushed the black haired boy away, before pressing his attack. Following up and appearing at the right side of Sasuke in a mirrored motion of what he had attempted, Naruto delivered an additional couple strikes to Sasuke's throat, cheek, and shoulder, before retreating back and dropping low, sending a kick reminiscent of an uppercut into the young Uchiha's chin, while he braced himself against the ground with his forearm, before righting himself, and settling back into his ready stance. His suspicions had been confirmed, the Hachidori (Hummingbird) style was based around speed and delivering high speed, low drag strikes and kicks to one's opponent, and the speed of the user enhanced the attack strength of the user.

So, if one were fast enough to get around their opponents counters, they could easily deal massive damage before retreating back out beyond their opponent's range, of which the Uzumaki Survivor had just given a textbook example. Naruto stood for a moment in his stance, still balancing on the balls of his feet, before Mizuki finally called the match upon realizing that the young Uchiha Clan heir was not going standing up, having been knocked unconscious by the final crushing blow Naruto had delivered to his chin. Mizuki shook his head before calling over to one of the several resident medics that were on hand for sparring sessions, and after having them collect Sasuke, he called up the next matchup, one Hyuuga Hinata against Shino. Naruto, having done his part and won his match, merely stepped down from the platform, nodding to Shino on his way, who said something to him along the lines of his victory being logical or something. Kiba grinned at his blonde-haired-blue-eyed pal, and handed him his trademark sword back laughing unashamedly as Naruto looked at him with a questioning look and Shikamaru simply uttered how "troublesome" the whole thing was as Chouji continued to much happily on his chips, which he always somehow had, no matter how many bags he ate.

"Naruto! Man, that was awesome! I think you kicked him so hard that he might have flown off of the pole that was stuck up his ass!" Kiba once again broke out into laughter to which Naruto began to join in at this point, hell he might as well have some fun, and he still had around nine more months to spend at the academy, anyways.

"Well shit Kiba, I figured he could use the help. It was stuck up there pretty damn far, anyways!"

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi leant back up from his crystal ball. Once again mentally thanking whatever deity had seen fit to grant him such a useful gift, he smiled to himself before opening up one of the drawers on his desk and retrieving his signature pipe and tobacco, lighting it with a small fire jutsu and puffing on it happily. It had been about three months since Naruto had returned to Konohagakure, and it seemed so far that he was doing splendidly. Aside from the young boys (albeit clever) use of the Kage Bunshin, which at some point he would talk to the child about, but seeing as how it wasn't really having a negative on him would continue to allow it to happen, the young Uzumaki was keeping out of trouble for the most part.

This was even particularly surprising, considering he had managed to con the somewhat elusive Mitarashi Anko into becoming his pseudo-sensei and sparring partner, a relationship which as far as the old Hokage could tell was mutually beneficial. Additionally, the child was making many friends in the academy, most notably the heirs of the Akamichi, Nara, Inuzuka (who he seemed particularly fond of) and Aburame. All in all, Naruto seemed to be getting on quite happily in the village, even despite Jiraiya leaving the young man high and dry several months ago. Perhaps it was the tobacco talking, but maybe the Sandaime was worrying too much about the young Uzumaki heir. The kid seemed to be doing alright on his own, just fine, after all. He'd let it all play out, and see where it went. After all, when you get to be that late in life, you can't spend time worrying about every single thing in the world, or you'll have no time left to enjoy it.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** **Well, that just about does it for this chapter of 'Immortalized', I do apologize in advance if my techniques are misnamed or misspelled, I'm using Google Translate. It is what it is, so I guess you can just chalk it up to different story, different moves type deal, but whatever. Anyways.** **That's all I got. Out.**


	6. Graduations and Operations

**Good Afternoon and welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! I'd like to take a quick second and thank all of you that reviewed, liked, or followed and have continued to support the story so far. I really do appreciate the feedback you guys give me, really helps me improve my writing and all that.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Graduations and Operations**

* * *

It had been nearly three months since Uzumaki Naruto had nearly been caught in the act of ditching-but-not-ditching school at the academy, and although it had been a close call, he had decided to continue on sending his clones in his place, though they were under strict instructions to not fall asleep this time. So far, he hadn't had any other near misses where he would almost be caught, but this was also largely in part due to his obtaining a copy of the class schedule, which allowed him to know when he would actually have to be at the academy for various activities, such as a spar or some of the more taxing chakra control exercises that his clones simple couldn't handle.

In this somewhat short timeframe, Naruto himself had noticed himself growing as Ninja in several ways. For example, his own chakra control showed the most drastic improvement, and after a liberal use of Kage Bunshin (which had quickly become his favorite training method), he could easily perform the tree walking and water walking exercises, and had gone on to take them a step further by being able to maintain each technique for a minimum of two hours, while in combat. This last part of this technique was largely brought on by Anko, who he had assumed by this point only agreed to train with him only because she enjoyed using his rapidly-healing body as a pincushion.

He couldn't complain too much, though. For all the cuts and bruises that the Snake Summoner had given him, every time he 'trained' with her, he found himself taking less and less hits, before finally, after many, many sessions, he had been able to land a solid blow on her. Naruto smiled to himself as he hid. That had been a great day in his opinion, and while the hit he had gotten on his pseudo-sensei didn't even do much damage, she had still be admittedly proud of him, and had even treated him to ramen afterword.

Although Naruto would still and forever refer to her has his "Sadistic Snake Sensei", there was a certain term of endearment that came with the title, and he knew that while they were very different people, the two misjudged members of Konoha had built a strong rapport with each other, and formed a bond that would not easily be broken.

In fact, Anko herself had realized this too, and had even found herself teaching the young blonde shinobi-in-training some of her own assassination and killing techniques. She was after all, a torture and interrogation specialist, and for many years before joining T&I, had been a member of ANBU. It had worked out especially well for her, as many of her skills could be brought over and transferred from her first major area of work to where she now resided. The way she say it, is that over the years she had managed to come up with and revolutionize many of the ways that infiltration and assassination was done, and she may as well pass some of them on. Despite who her former sensei was, she was every bit dedicated to Konohagakure.

Naruto briefly closed his eyes, shaking his head ever so slightly, and pulling himself from his thoughts. He was currently in the middle of a game of "hide and hunt" with his aforementioned sadistic sensei. Cursing lightly to himself, Naruto disappeared from his camouflaged location at the base of a large tree in a rapid shunshin, narrowly avoiding the multitude of shuriken that now littered the area where he had once stood. Spinning deftly on his heel, and unsheathing his Kaze no Karitoriki in a swift and fluid motion, brought it to bear, parrying away several more kunai before jumping backwards and spinning on an axis, forming several one-handed seals and barking out a quick and controlled "Fuuton: Diatoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"! Which served its elected purpose of spinning the remaining kunai into disarray.

Landing back on the ground, Naruto sprinted forward, pulsing his chakra as he did so, jumping forwards but angling himself sideways, slimming his body to fall in between the two Fuuma Shuriken that had been launched at him from either side, before launching himself into the air watching with some satisfaction as the ground below him liquefied and then solidified soon after, signifying Anko's use of the same trapping techniques she had used on him in their first 'spar'.

Finding himself on a nearby tree branch, Naruto pulsed his chakra, in a gross and unrefined form of the "Chakra Hankyouteii no Jutsu (Chakra Echolocation Jutsu)" And immediately launched himself off of the tree he had been on flying towards the now revealed Anko who simply grinned up at him, laughing as she dropped a kunai into each hand before bringing them up into a standardized ANBU cross block, before trapping the young blondes blade down into the ground, using the angle to spin her left up and over, kicking out at Naruto and nailing him in the neck, smiling as he flew to the side, impacting the ground a short distance away.

Her victory was short lived however, as the 'Naruto' on the exploded as soon as she neared to check on him, in a clever use of "Bunshin Daibukha (Great Clone Explosion)", almost throwing her back, had she not noticed at the last second, before raising both arms and allowing the snakes hidden within her sleeves, easily catching the sword carrying arm of each swordsman, watching with mild satisfaction as her pets bit into each one, dispelling the clones. However, once again her victory was short lived as what she sincerely hoped was the real Naruto dropping down from above her, falling through the smokescreen created by his clones, clutching what appeared to be a small blue ball of energy in his hand, aimed directly for Anko's head as she looked up and feigned surprised at his entrance, which quickly morphed into actual surprise as she noticed the very recognizable Rasengan thrust outwards.

Naruto grinned, this was finally it. He smiled all the way to the ground, and his grin only subsided once the surrounding ground was obliterated from his techniques impact. He barely had time to stand, barely bringing his katana to bear over his left shoulder, blocking an irate looking Anko armed with kunai, but unfortunately failed to notice that the 'real' Anko was underneath the ground, and him, up until the point he felt her hands wrap around his ankles, pulling him neck deep into the ground, sword and all.

"Really kid? A fuckin' Rasengan?! I knew you were the fourth's brat but damn! Maybe I should stop holding back on you…" the Mitarashi mused to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she knelt down in front of the trapped Uzumaki. Naruto, for his part, was doing his absolute best not to look at the view he was being blatantly given by the snake kunoichi, knowing that the moment he allowed the blush onto his face of attempted to sneak a peek, he would be in a world of hurt.

"Kami, Anko-Sensei! You get mad if I don't have intent to kill, you get mad when I do try to kill you, I don't understand!" Naruto sighed exasperatedly, looking his pseudo-sensei dead in the eyes, "Can you please just let me up, this position isn't exactly comfortable, and I do have other things to do today…" Naruto trailed off at that point, looking up expectantly at the Snake Summoner, as was finally rewarded as the ground around him loosened up to the point that he was able to move, and he pulled himself out of the dirt sheathing his katana and replacing it on his shoulders.

Thanking his friend and sensei, Naruto took to the trees, moving in-between them in a combination of Shunshin and basic tree hopping. As he disappeared through the rooftops, Anko remained on the forest floor, watching him go, not even blinking when a single ANBU Operative dropped down next to her. She waited a mere few moments before inclining her head towards the crane-masked man, speaking softly. "You know, he's improved a lot in the last few months. His speed has improved. Taijutsu is up, his Ninjutsu was already above his level, and one of these days I think I'll talk to Yugao and have her mess him up in Kenjutsu. Not to mention that Rasengan in the end there. He's gotten decent at his misdirection tactics as well." She informed the other shinobi, who only nodded and retrieved a scroll from his pack, handing it to the T&I operator, who began to briefly look it over.

"Am I to assume then, that he has your recommendation for the Corps? The recommendation of someone such as yourself wouldn't be overlooked should he accept our offer once he becomes a Genin." The ANBU supplied, his features a mask due to his mask, and his stature offered no inclinations to what he may have actually been thinking. Anko had finished looking over the scroll, and held her hand over it, pushing some of her chakra into her signature, and sealing her recommendation into the paper, before handing it back to the other ninja.

"Yeah, I approve of the decision, and I give my recommendation and back for Uzumaki Naruto to be instated into the Konoha ANBU division yadda yadda, whatever. The kid's got my backing, that's all you're really looking for, right Crane?" Anko tilted her had back, and turned to look at her fellow shinobi, before addressing him once more, stopping him as he was about to leave the clearing. "Just make sure to give him something other than the Fox mask, alright?" As Crane left the clearing, he could still make out the (in his opinion) slightly insane snake summoner's laughter.

Sighing to himself, the ANBU Operative made his way through the trees, and eventually through the rooftops of Konoha back to his headquarters. The young Uzumaki had been approved for eligibility to enter the ANBU Corps, pending his graduation from the academy. As he landed in the doorway of the hidden entrance and checked his surroundings before entering, he verified that he had all the information that was required on the boy.

Soon, if he accepted, the heir to the Uzumaki would become the newest member of the Black Ops Division.

* * *

It had been nearly a year since Naruto had signed up at the academy, and to say that things were going swimmingly was an understatement. He had easily rose to the top of his class, only having the occasional rival in the form of the brooding Uchiha, who despite Naruto's best efforts, refused to lighten his mood, causing him to eventually give up trying. Instead, he had chosen to become closer to the many friends he had made, and found a way to bond with each of them. It wasn't an uncommon sight to find him sleeping outside with Shikamaru, or chowing down on a bag of chips with Chouji.

But if he had to choose, he had become closest of al to the young Inuzuka heir, Kiba. The two boys would often train together, and though Naruto had supremely outclassed him, it only served to push him on to train harder, and every time the boys would part it was on good terms. It was a common sight to see the two heirs leaning on each other on their way back from the training grounds, barely standing from exhaustion, and there were many nights that the last Uzumaki simply passed out at Kiba's, unable to move.

If anyone ever asked him, he would say that he would prefer to live on his own and said that he enjoyed the solitude, but it was obvious to everyone in the compound (especially Tsume and Hana, who had both become quite fond of him, often calling him an "honorary Inuzuka") that he adored the affection and attention he would get there.

In fact, this is actually where he was coming from, having stayed the night over at the Inuzuka Compound, having been invited over there the night prior by Kiba. The two had been training nonstop for the entire night before (apart from one incident where an unassuming Naruto walked in on a showering Hana blushing and nearly passing out from a nosebleed), their reason being that today was the day for the yearly final exams. When the academy had been completely overhauled many years ago, a few systems had been put in place to assist those who were above the average skill level into getting out into the ninja force sooner rather than doing the standard 3 years at the academy. One such program was the yearly final exam, which, if passed with a high enough mark, allowed the student to graduate early, and be granted the rank of Genin.

Typically, only third year student attempted to take the exam, but after enough prodding and recommendations from his various sensei, Naruto had relented, and today both he and Kiba would be taking the test, hopefully passing with a high enough rating and becoming the villages newest Genin. Naruto knew he was ready, something about being trained personally by a one of the Sannin, and then finding a sparring partner in the form of the student of another one did wonders to boost the young boy's confidence. As Naruto walked through the door of his classroom, Kiba and Akamaru in tow he was nothing but a beacon of confidence and self-trust. It wasn't long before Iruka entered the room, and began calling names back, eventually calling Naruto himself back into the exam room.

The written exam portion was up first, and he easily managed to pass it with flying colors, even the portion on Ninjutsu Theory, as well as the section that consisted on almost nothing but the properties and ratio distributions of Chakra. Following up the test was a physical evaluation, which was more of a checkup than anything else, and then a spar against one of the Chunin proctors. Naruto was lucky in this portion of the evaluation, and thanks to his more recent training from Anko, was able to dispatch Mizuki within a matter of minutes, ending the match with his blade pointed at the older man's throat. The final portion, Ninjutsu, was the easiest by far, and after Naruto easily performed the Henge, he overloaded the Bunshin and made twenty instead of the required three, and a basic Kawarimi, he proudly walked out of the room, a Leaf inscribed Hitai Ite clutched in his hand, and a broad smile on his face.

* * *

The newest Genin of the Leaf walked happily down the street, the badge of his stature tied loosely around his waist, reminiscent of a certain smoking Sarutobi and his Twelve Shinobi Guardians sash. The blonde in question was currently on his way to the Ichiraku Ramen stand, completely intent on celebrating his new rank with the owners of the stands, and later with his friends.

Unfortunately, out of all the students in his former class, he had been the only one to pass the exam with a high enough mark to become a Genin. Some honorable mentions, of course would be Sasuke, who had actually only missed the mark by a mere ten points, and Kiba, who although had poured his heart and soul into his training, had missed the minimum required score by a margin of fifteen. The young Inuzuka hadn't harbored any ill will towards him, though, and was actually quite happy for his friend. This couldn't be said for the brooding Uchiha, though, who had never actually bonded with Naruto, and now after being shown up once more, harbored a resentment that was resolute in its stance. There would be no peace between Uchiha and Uzumaki as far as he was concerned.

The Uzumaki Clan heir walked into the ramen stand, and after the subsequent congratulatory hug and a complimentary bowl of his favorite miso ramen, he was soon digging into his second bowl, happily slurping down the broth. However, it was as he lowered the bowl from his face, that he noticed that the once empty seat to the right of him was now filled with the small, lithe form of a kunoichi, dressed in the typical white, gray, and black ANBU garb, her cat mask doing nothing to conceal her long, flowing violet hair. Naruto did his best not to look surprised, although the operative had caught him completely off guard.

It was then that Naruto noticed that the ramen stand itself was quiet, quieter than usual. He couldn't even hear old man Teuchi cooking in the back, and Ayame was nowhere to be found. Swallowing the last of the broth, the Uzumaki Heir turned his head towards the cat masked shinobi sitting next to him, idly noticing the katana strapped to her back, as her emotionless mask stared right back at him.

"Uzumaki Naruto. A message from Lord Danzo." With that short and quick affirmation, the Ninja retrieved a scroll from the pouch on her right hip, before handing it to Naruto, and after verifying that he did indeed recognize its importance, she vanished in a Shunshin, the ramen stand seemingly returning to life as the last leaf petals hit the ground from Cat's quick exit.

Contemplating the scroll in his hands, Naruto apologized to Ayame (who had by now reappeared, being none the wiser to what had happened), paid his tab, and disappeared in a Shunshin of his own, reappearing on the top of the Hokage Monument, before moving to stand on his father's head. Holding the scroll in his hand he opened it, reading quickly, and eyes going wide. Soon after he finished, per instruction on the scroll, Naruto channeled a small fire jutsu between his fingers, burning the paper in his hands to ash. He had a week to make his decision, like he actually needed it. For him the decision was already made. All he had to do now was act on it.

* * *

The strange, three pronged kunai sailed through the air in straight line that was polished off from years of practice, impacting into the target, not only dead center, but with a hearty 'thunk', before it was enshrouded by a dark yellow flash of light. Anyone who had been alive when the Yondaime Hokage had been would have immediately recognized the signature jutsu of Namikaze Minato, but they would also have been quite thrown off, as instead of the man they had envision appearing, they would have watched the small frame of a twelve-year old slam into the tree, unable to control his momentum.

Naruto had been attempting to master his father's Hiraishin technique for the last several months, and with this being his first (and also last) week as a Genin before he officially signed on with ANBU, he wanted to be able to make as much progress as he possibly could before he started with the corps. For all the progress he had made on the Hiraishin, though, he was still a long ways off from where his father had been. Just thinking about the shoes he had to fill to live up to his father's name was enough to make his head spin. The man had been a legend, able to decimate entire armies within minutes. And if Naruto wanted to surpass him, he had a long way to go.

That isn't to say that he hadn't made progress, though. His first attempts at utilizing the Hiraishin had ended in nothing more than him throwing an oddly shaped kunai against a wall. After going over the notes left by his father, though, he had been able to rewrite the seals on the various kunai to a new formula that was suited for him, as the jutsu was orientated around a complex sealing array, and it had nothing to do with being of the same blood as the original user. Over the next few months, Naruto had made some outstanding progress, eventually getting to the point where he was able to 'flash' to each kunai, but only after doing the appropriate hand seals for the Hiraishin, and although he was steadily making progress towards being able to use it seallessly and by instinct like his father had been able to, he was still a long ways off from surpassing what was arguably the jutsu that ended the Third Shinobi World War.

Naruto picked himself back up from the ground, and in a spout of anger channeled his chakra into a particularly anger and frustration fueled Rasengan, driving it into the target, obliterating it and sending the splinters flying everywhere. Sighing to himself, the Uzumaki picked up the now split in half tri-pronged kunai, before scowling and flinging it away from him, making his way back towards the far end of the training field where he had a literal pile of the kunai, just adjacent to a few small groups of clones who had been training on other, less physically dangerous, aspects.

"You keep destroying targets like that and Konoha might run out one of these days." A voice lazily drawled out, startling Naruto out of his musings, the young man spinning and closing his right hand around the hilt of Kaze no Karitoriki, but loosening his hold once he realized it was only Anko. Sighing, he absent mindedly threw one of the offending kunai at her, which she easily caught and began spinning around her finger. "I heard you accepted the ANBU Contract", she began, holding back her amused chuckle at his look of surprise.

"Who told you about that? I thought that was supposed to be classified. I haven't even told anyone." The blonde started, lazily dodging the kunai as it came sailing back towards him, noting with mild interest that it landed back in the pile of its brothers.

"Oh please kid, who do you think recommended you to the Corps in the first place? Or gave their personal recommendation as well? I'm part of the reason that you got selected, Naruto." Anko informed him, smiling cheekily and flashing a toothy grin as she walked towards him, grabbing the young man in a light headlock, playfully roughing up his head as she did so.

"Really? Aww, Anko-Chan I knew you head a heart! It was just hidden behind all that anger and hate!" Naruto barbed back at her, substituting himself with a log, and effectively escaping Anko's playful assault. Laughing at her bewildered face, he laughed, "You were the one who taught me the way of the Log, Anko-Chan! 'For when you feel the tug on your soul, you shall know that it is the will of the Log, allow yourself to swap with it, and for a brief moment, you and the log shall become one.'" He quoted back at her, remembering a time when she had first used the Kawarimi no Jutsu in one of their spars, and then proceeded to beat the following Log Worship into his head.

Allowing her face to slip into a devilish grin that reached all the way to her ears, Anko fell into her practiced "Hebi" (Snake) stance, fully intent on placing the young Genin and ANBU-to-be into a tight spot. "Oh, its Anko- _Chan_ now, huh? Well then, Naruto- _kun ,_ maybe I should reserve us a room…" She trailed off as she disappeared into a burst of speed, reappearing directly in front of him, and throwing a sweeping round punch as she began the Taijutsu match.

"Maybe, maybe not", the young man coolly replied, having become more than used to the kunoichi's attempts to throw him off with her less than sublime sexual comments. This was exactly what he needed to help take his mind off of all that was going on, and was coincidentally a perfect way to let off all the steam that had been building inside him with his continued failure of the Hiraishin. "You'll have to beat me to find out!"

For the next several hours, the various sounds of combat could be heard coming from the Namikaze estate.

* * *

The Uzumaki Clan heir knelt in the shadows of the small, torch lit room. It was dry, yet somewhat musty at the same time, but also held the unmistakable air of a practiced military installation that was only enhanced by the dull gray paint and black Konoha flags. Standing at the head of the room and flanked on either side by a standard ANBU Agent, was a man whose clothing was covered by the unusually black ANBU cloak, however the cloak did nothing to cover the mans bandaged face, or spiked black hair. The cloak also revealed that the man's right arm was trapped in a sling, and if one were to judge by the man's ever-present cane, he was also someone injured, if not just elderly.

However, none of these qualities did anything to mask the man confident aura, and he practically leaked an air of exuberance. The man, known as Shimura Danzo, head of Konohagakure's Black Ops Division, and whose orders were only superseded by the Hokage himself, moved to stand in front of the kneeling blonde, asking the first and only question that all ANBU initiates faced. "Do you know why you were selected to kneel before the great Tree of Konoha?"

Naruto, not moving anything but his lips, answered solemnly, but no less resolutely, "To walk in the Shadows that even Ninja fear to tread, I will protect my village from the Darkness by harnessing myself, defending it with my life and soul." At this completion of his statement, the tile plating on the ground in front of Naruto opened up, revealing a raising platform upon which rested a white, porcelain mask containing the visage of a Lynx.

"Then rise, and go forth. Tonight, you are no longer Uzumaki Naruto, Heir to the Uzumaki Clan and Genin of Konoha. Until the day that you step from the shadows and return to the light you shall be known as Rinkusu (Lynx). Placing the mask upon his face, Lynx stood up, for what felt like the first time, before closing his right hand into a fist and crossing it over his heart.

"I am no longer Uzumaki Naruto, I am Lynx." Danzo merely nodded once, before spinning on his heel, walking out of the room, as the newly appointed Lynx stood in the room at attention. 'The nine-tails Jinchuriki is now under my command…" The old war hawk mused to himself as he left the room, not even bothering to turn as one of his Captains passed by him in the hallway, heading to meet her new charge.

Lynx, perhaps because of the mask, or maybe he was already that steeled in his emotions, didn't even move when the ANBU Operative he had met before, Cat, stepped into the room, quickly crossing it to get face to face with him, before speaking in a curtly and clipped tone. "Lynx, I am Cat, your new captain. From this point on, your chain of command is me, and only me. Is that clear?" Waiting for a brief second as Lynx nodded, she continued, "Very well. Then after we set you up in your new living quarters, we'll see about getting you in the field. Let's move."

Cat smiled pleasantly behind her mask at the obedient and seemingly capable nature of her newest recruit. Soon she would see just what Anko had when she had pushed for the young blonde to join the Corps, and as she turned on her heel and began walking away, with Lynx in tow, she couldn't help but hope he didn't disappoint her. She'd hate to be the one to break it to Anko that her 'prodigal son' in the kunoichi's own words, had died on his first mission as an Agent.

* * *

Lynx sat stock still in the tree, trusting fully in the light bending camouflage jutsu that he had been taught by Jiraiya, watching intently at the scene unfolding below him. Lynx had been a member of ANBU for several weeks now, and after blasting through the standard recruit training that typically took an agent a period of one month, Lynx completed it in one week (thank you Kage Bunshin!) he had been assigned his first of many missions. So far, he even had a perfect track record, spanning multiple missions throughout various areas of the Elemental Nations.

Currently he was watching as the one of the Nobles of Rice Country and his entourage passed by his position. He had been assigned to eliminate this particular noble, a woman in her early twenties. Lynx didn't know how such a low profile assassination would help his village, but then again, he wasn't supposed to. As an agent Lynx was a tool to be used as his Captain and his Hokage saw fit. If that meant dispatching a three man cell to deal with an up and coming noble, then that's what it meant.

If his face showed any sort of disapproval of this mission, his mask did not relay it. Lynx's mind was pulled from his musings as he saw a single kunai knife impact dead center on the noble's carriage, the attached flashbang blinding the two chunin in the front, and allowing his team mate, Raven, to drop in between the two, driving a kunai into each man's neck before speeding towards the chariot itself.

Meanwhile, Lynx had Shunshin'd to behind the chunin that was bringing up the rear, before spinning on his heel and moving in a burst of incredible speed towards the chariot as well, Kaze no Karitoriki out and extended. As he passed the ninja on his way to the chariot, flicking his katana forward, the man was dead and decapitated before he even hit the ground. All at the same time as the Jounin of the group emerged from inside the carriage, laying an eye on Naruto, before a short, black tanto appeared to protrude from his back to the front of his chest. As the man fell over, the small form of Jaguar appeared behind the man, nodding at Lynx.

As one, the three members of ANBU each took a side on the chariot, before running through a set of hand seals and with a simultaneous call of "Katon: Gōkakyū no _Jutsu_ , (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)", the three large balls of highly corrosive heat and energy collided in on each other, rendering the small carriage, and the Noble inside, to dust. Performing a swift "Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)" which cleared away all of the ash that had accumulated between the bodies and destroyed wood, leaving a cleared road that had little to no evidence of anything that had occurred there, Lynx spared the scene one more glance before he took to the trees, relying on his already incredible speed to catch his teammates.

ANBU Operatives were supposed to be discreet, after all.

* * *

"…And after the noble was killed and all the evidence destroyed, Lynx supervised the cleanup before our return to Konoha." Raven reported to Cat, all three members of his cell remaining kneeling before the cat masked woman.

"Very well, you are dismissed to quarters until further instruction. Lynx. Remain." Cat spoke in a clipped tone, her arms crossed under her decently sized bust, walking around the still kneeling Lynx. He watched her as she paced around him, not moving his head, but still taking in every aspect her curves. He may have been young but he was still a guy. He remained frozen as she moved around behind him, stopping as she became perpendicular to the sword that was crossed across the young man's back.

"Training ground Beta. Two minutes. Don't be late." Cat simply stated, turning her back, and hearing the slightly distorted and muffled "Yes, Taichou." Before the small just of wind that was common with a Shunshin. She grinned to herself, under her mask, fingering her own katana, before pulling up her hand and vanishing in a shunshin of her own, small leaf petals floating softly down and landing on her desk. So, her newest recruit fancied himself to be good at Kenjutsu? Maybe she could have some fun with him, after all. And by fun, she very obviously meant brutalize through her own mastery of Kenjutsu.

Lynx had no idea that she was known as 'Konoha's Mistress of the Blade', but he would soon learn.

* * *

And learn he did. As soon as his Captain had shown up, there had never been any warning. He had been standing down at the far end of the designated 'Beta' training ground of the ANBU, and the few other members that had been there quickly vacated as soon as Cat appeared on the other end, facing towards Lynx.

Inclining his head in an unassuming 'questioning' look, Lynx was barely able to slide out of the way as Cat appeared inside his guard, a downward sword slash already in motion. It was all he could do to side step, rolling to the side, and drawing his own katana to block the follow up strike from his captain.

The following hour, Cat would show exactly why she was a Captain in the ANBU Corps. And her title was aptly earned, as no matter what the young agent would try he was promptly beaten down. Kage Bunshin, various Ninjutsu, hell he even tried a couple sealing techniques on her, which while he may have been able to catch her off guard once or twice, he was only able to land a single definitive hit right at the end of the session, which is why the 'spar', if it could be called that, was called to a close.

Through an interesting strategy, Lynx showed his true prowess in tactics when he managed to slice open Cat's thigh. She had just finished up a near crushing combination of Kenjutsu and Taijutsu on him, culminating in her kicking him straight into the air, before allowing him to drop onto her blade. However, at the last second, Lynx sprung his plan into action, and although his body was completely wrecked, he was able to hold together long enough to complete it.

As the young agent fell towards the sword, he pulsed his chakra outward, and multiple rocks and rubble around that had become littered around the training filed released their transformation techniques, revealing themselves to be multiple copies of Lynx, all who promptly launched themselves at the ANBU Captain. To her merit, the captain didn't miss a beat, merely abandoning skewering the agent, and opting to rage through his clones, quickly making short work of them.

As she disarmed and speared the last one with her own katana, she spun to face her newest charge, but right as she raised her sword to begin her assault, she noticed a small glint in the corner of her vision. Before she had any more time to react, the original Lynx yanked back hard on all of the ninja wire that littered the area, seemingly trapping his Captain in a spider web of wire, making her look similar to a trapped fly inside said web. His trap wasn't done yet, though, for as soon as Cat began to cut her way free of the many cords that had attached to her, she was able to hear the multitude of hissing noises, as the myriad of paper bombs he had attached to the wires exploded, enshrouding the area in a flash of light.

This still wasn't enough to take down, or even phase the ANBU Captain, as she jumped out of the cloud of smoke, seemingly unfazed by the assault that had befuddled her. However, at that exact moment, four separate Lynx's appeared on either side of her, Rasengan in hand and made a dash at her, which she was able to avoid by dropping low and spinning, eliminating all that had surrounded her. What caught her off guard though, as that the sword that one of the clones dropped did not pop out of existence like the rest, and when she spun to look at the falling blade, Lynx burst from the ground directly below her grabbing his sword as it fell, and managed to slice Cat clean across her outer thigh as she desperately backtracked, dodging the brunt of his blow, and promptly kicking him hard across the back, sending him flying across the clearing.

Cat stood there, and watched as Lynx slowly got shakily to his feet, and though he couldn't see it, she narrowed her eyes, but also raised one of her eyebrows in mild surprise. It had been awhile since such a fresh member had been able to land a hit on her. And although the cut he had delivered was nothing to write home about, it was still a definite hit on an ANBU Captain. Cat had to hand it to Anko, she sure knew how to pick em'.

Cat waited until Lynx was fully back on his feet before addressing him for the last time that day. "You're dismissed for the day. Unless missions send you otherwise, you will report to here, and to me, every other day, bar nothing, at 1800. Am I clear?" She turned and began her shunshin away, easily catching the "Clear, Taichou." That drifted over to her on the wind.

Lynx, now standing on sore legs, with a sheathed Kaze no Karitoriki in hand, began his slow limp off of the training field. He was going to murder Anko if he made it out of ANBU.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **And that's that. Another chapter down of 'Immortalized', and if you hadn't noticed they are indeed increasing by a margin of about 1,000 words every chapter, furthering towards my personal goals. Anyways, I'll try and be back quick with the next chapter, but no promises. Work is starting to pick up, and I've been getting a lot busier.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	7. Shadows Protecting the Light

**Good Evening… It's currently been a short 6 hours since I published the last chapter, and while normally I wouldn't start on a new chapter quite this early, I wasn't able to sleep, and after the 4** **th** **hour of staring at the ceiling, I decided to up and make something of my life, so here I am. Thanks to you few guys out there that took the time to review, I really do appreciate it. Anyways, onto the newest chapter of 'Immortalized'!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Shadows Protecting the Light**

* * *

There was a lot you could learn about someone by the way that they fought. The way that one throws their fists, which advantages they will and won't use, the weapons they choose to employ, and the strategies that they employ all give a great deal on insight into not only that person's character, but also their philosophy and mindset.

This saying, however true it may have been, absolutely went double for those who chose to use swords as one of the baselines for their own personal fighting style. If one were to sit and not just watch, but truly observe a battle between two Kenjutsu masters, they would be awestruck by the sheer tenacity alone of the combat. When two masters of the blade meet, their joining and crossing of blades is often referred to and seen as a dance between the two combatants, their blades ebbing and flowing with each other, each one performing a give and take, and the moment both rapid, and fluid.

It was truly a masterpiece to behold, if one were privileged enough to watch them meet, that is, if the battle itself wasn't decided within the first few strikes. Conversely though, the longer the meeting between the two swordsmen went on, the danger of it also went up as each opponent would be more and more willing to 'pull out all the stops' and go for the more dangerous maneuvers. This was both a boon and a disappointment for any spectator, as some of the sheer movements that would be made are absolutely astounding, but they were also more likely to bring a quick and decisive end to the dance, almost as if the music they had been flowing to had been cut, the record being smashed.

However, none of these thoughts were farther from Lynx's mind as he desperately parried, dodged, and counterstroke against the blade of his captain, the ever elusive Cat-masked ANBU, who he had come to realize was a world class Kenjutsu expert. It seemed to matter little how much he trained, or how much he fought against her, for every single time they would engage in a fight, she had walked away the victor. That isn't to say that Lynx was a slouch, he was just simply out classed when it came to strict Kenjutsu.

He had proven multiple times that when all the restrictions placed upon him were released, that he could be a brilliant tactician that rivaled that of Hatake Kakashi himself, and combined with his already massive and versatile Ninjutsu arsenal and the simple fact that with his mastery of the Kage Bunshin he was a literal one-man army, Lynx was truly a one man army. Unfortunately none of that particularly mattered at the moment, as for the last several 'spars' (if he could call them that, after having slowly and painfully limped away after more than one of their sessions) his captain had ordered him to use nothing but his Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, effectively handicapping a great deal to the point of being crippled.

However, Lynx had been no slouch in learning and adapting his Kenjutsu style, and his preferred style of Taijutsu, while mostly aimed around the benefit of his various speed enhancing techniques, was still good in a pinch. He knew what Cat had been trying to do though, and he appreciated it to an extent. However, after nearly two years of being in the ANBU Corps, during which time he had spent every other day when he wasn't out of the village on assignment being brutalized by his Captain, he was beginning to tire of it.

As Lynx dropped his weight, by now easily slipping under Cat's outstretched katana, he leaned back before bringing his right hand up hard and fast, striking the back of Cat's elbow, and knocking her sword out of her hand, sending it spinning into the air. Grinning beneath his mask, Lynx brought his sword to bear, spinning on his heel after righting himself, and bringing his blade around in a feinting shoulder strike, before reversing the blade and moving it towards her throat.

As she had been disarmed and without a weapon, Lynx was caught off guard when his captain brought her hand upwards in a flash, deflecting the intruding blade with a flick of her wrist, before firmly planting her foot into his solar plexus, at the same time as she rotated her over and around his wrist, grabbing it and slamming it down as the rest of his body attempted to fly away. The resulting torque dislocated the man's wrist and forced him to let go of his blade, the fallen Kaze no Karitoriki clattering to the ground as Cat released his hand, caught her sword and brought its point to bear on the fallen man's neck.

Knowing that he had now was of knowing it, Cat smiled behind her porcelain mask, fully allowing the ear splitting grin to take over his visage. The fourteen year old Agent had been steadily improving at an alarming rate in almost all aspects of the Ninja, lacking only in Genjutsu to the point that she doubted that he would ever be able to cast anything other than a C-Rank Technique. While she knew that the younger blonde could greatly appreciate his alarming growth to his liberal use of Kage Bunshin, his tenacity was also something that wasn't to be scoffed at. You could look at his outlook on her training as a prime example of this, as no matter how many times she beat him down, broke his bones, shattered his libs, or just generally cut him up during their 'spars', she knew Lynx would be at Training Field Beta the day after, despite the shape he was in.

Additionally, Lynx also boasted a currently one-hundred-percent mission success rate, with minor casualties having been suffered only a small number of times. Yes, all in all even cat had to admit that he was a truly impressive ANBU agent, having only been in the program two years and ascending to the position that he was in was something that had been unheard of since the days of Uchiha Itachi. There were many reasons that Cat had chosen to make him her Lieutenant nearly a year ago, but one of the largest was the young man's drive that even she could see was barely concealed behind his mask.

This did nothing to mention the sheer potential that the young man possessed. He room for growth was massive, and the teen seemed to take to the ninja arts akin to a fish taking to water. All of these thoughts flashed through the ANBU Captain's mind as she flicked the blood from her katana before sheathing her blade, turning her back on her Lieutenant and walking away, disappearing in a rapid shunshin.

As Lynx slowly picked himself up, he knew he was being watched by several members of ANBU, if their somewhat familiar chakra signatures were anything to go off of. While he was no sensor, even he could pick up people this close in proximity to his own massive chakra. What he didn't know though, was that the few watching him were some of the other Captains of the other divisions in the Corps, and he was clueless to the fact that Cat had been looking for a replacement.

No, all Lynx knew for sure was that his wrist needed to be reset, and that he was in a hell of a lot of pain for it being this early in the morning. He sighed softly to himself, before retrieving his fallen katana and returning it to the sheathe on his back. At least he didn't have any missions planned for the next couple days so he could attempt to recuperate before his next beat dow-training. He meant training.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the stack of paperwork laid out in front of him, idly wondering just exactly how much trouble he could possibly get in by burning it all to a crisp. It wouldn't take much, not even a second thought. The Professor could simply flick his fingers and in the small flash of a fire jutsu, it would all be gone. The old man sighed, staying his hand, for now. The paperwork was a necessary evil that was in place to help run the village, and while he hated it with almost every fiber of his being, he was mature enough to restrain himself.

Looking over to the duo standing in front of him Sarutobi steeled himself, his visage taking on that of a hardened warrior, that of a straight commander, rotating his chair to face the three man cell that was keeling in front of him, their animal masked faces bowed respectfully towards the ground. Hiruzen smiled briefly, instantly recognizing the young man on bowed on the far left, his mop of unruly dull blonde hair being a dead giveaway for one as attentive as the Hokage.

Returning his thoughts to the matter at hand, the old Hokage addressed the three ANBU agents in the room, allowing them to stand at full height as he began his briefing. "Lynx, Tiger, Boar, you three have been gathered based off of your specific qualities that will be essential to this mission. Recently, a team of Jounin that was operating within the Land of Fire stumbled upon what appears to be one of the bases of my old student, Orochimaru. As it is highly unlikely that he is still in the vicinity, your team's mission is to infiltrate the facility, and retrieve any documents or envoys of interest that remain. This is to include personnel that may have been left behind. Lynx has operational command, and you are to leave promptly. I expect a full debrief upon completion." The man raised his head after ensuring that Lynx had gleaned all the information he need to from the folder containing all they had learned of the outpost, before burning it with a fire jutsu between his fingertips.

"As always, if you are captured or killed, the Leaf will immediately disavow you from the ANBU Corps, and while an effort will be made to retrieve you, we will not expend undue resources. Any questions?" The Hokage paused for a brief second, making sure to catch the eye of each member of the team, linger on the cold blue eyes of Lynx for a moment before speaking once more, rising and turning his back to the three men, grasping his hands firmly behind his back. "Dismissed!"

The three man cell immediately phased out of the office, each vanishing in their own form of shunshin, before reappearing in the central command area of the ANBU headquarters.

The two subordinate members looked to the de-facto leader of their newly minted task force, as he addressed them for the first time, "We leave in fifteen minutes. Prepare for close combat and personnel capture, if there are any I want them alive and in good condition. Pack light, pack fast. South gate on my previous mark…move!" Lynx watched as his team vanished off to gather their own respective gear, before rushing off to obtain his own. Lynx was no stranger to the burden of leadership, having been in the position a decent amount of times ever since his promotion to Lieutenant of the Seventh Division within ANBU, however, this would be the first time he was the lead agent on the raid of such a high profile target.

For his team though, he would be the picture of confidence. It simply wouldn't do to be the lone, unconfident leader. Plus, Lynx knew that Boar himself was actually a Captain himself, so why he had been granted operational command over his superior officer, he had no idea. Unfortunately, he had no time to lament on it, as he had just arrived at the gate, moments late joined by the aforementioned captain, and seconds after that, Tiger.

Nodding to his team, Lynx jumped into the trees, speeding off due south, his team hot on his heels.

* * *

The three-man task force arrived at the entrance to a large cave system in the south western region of Fire Country, near the border with River Country. Seeing as how the base was a part of such a complex system, it was no wonder that it had remained unseen until now, even being in fire country.

Dropping to the ground below the tree he was currently in, Lynx was soon joined by Boar and Tiger, and upon relaying to them their instructions, the three seemed to vanish as they moved akin to snakes in the grass towards the entrance of the cave complex, slipping inside unseen, and unheard. They hadn't made it too far into the system before they discovered the true entrance to the compound, in the form of a small, circular door on the far side of one of the walls. As Lynx moved to disable the various seals that had crisscrossed over the hatch, his two team mates covered his approach.

It was somewhat well known in the ANBU Corps that Lynx was quite adept with the lost art of Fuuinjutsu, and it was speculated within the higher echelons that he had long surpassed even Jiraiya in the art. As the two men watched their team leader work, precisely and in silence, they were reminded of the reason he had been placed on his team.

The way that the current ANBU lineup worked, was that each member of the team served a particular role. For example, if the mission parameters were more suited for heavy combat, a group of combat and Ninjutsu specialists would be sent over a team of capture and interrogation proficient agents. For this particular raid, the team consisted of Lynx, the seal expert and close-to-mid combat specialist, in addition to Tiger, the infiltration and intelligence gathering expert, who would know what to look for as they moved through the base, and finally, the team was rounded out by Boar, who as a captain, was proficient in all areas to a certain extent, but in this case serve primarily for prisoner capture and interrogation.

Lynx finished writing out the kanji he had been working on, before lightly pressing the paper into the center of the doorway, watching as the seal he had written briefly flashed a dull blue, followed by the door opening, the many security and defense seals the littered the entranced now nullified. Signaling to the other two members of his raid group, Lynx stepped inside the compound.

However, for all his training, Lynx was only slightly surprised that the inside of the complex was built like a maze, with corridors and tunnels spiraling off in several directions. Signaling once again to his teammates, Lynx quickly formed a massive group of Kage Bunshin, them all immediately rushing off in separate directions, as the team of three stepped into the shadows, waiting for the reconnaissance group that had just been sent out to return.

They didn't have to wait for long, as within seven minutes of the Kage Bunshin's disappearance, all of them had been dispelled, and Lynx now knew the correct path to follow to the main facility, and as far as he could tell, there weren't very many combatants in the hall, if at all. Only four of his clones had been forcefully dispelled after reaching what he perceived as the main chamber, the rest of the clones dispelling on their own after reaching nothing of value, or hitting a dead end in the compound.

In response, the three agents quickly made their way down the long halls of the facility, before coming up to the door that led to the main area. The team stacked up on it, with Tiger and Boar on either side, Lynx standing center on the ceiling a few feet back. After assuming that they had already been discovered by way of Lynx's destroyed clones, the team opted for the shock-and-awe approach. Boar and Tiger, after slapping a pair of enhanced explosive tags on the door, jumped back and took cover, looking on in mild satisfaction as the doors were blown inwards, and the team idly watched as a massive hail of kunai and shuriken peppered the area where the door had once stood.

"Well, go ahead and come on out, shitheads! I ain't got all fuckin' day!" A feminine voice perforated the darkness of the complex, and the Konoha team began quickly signing to each other in preparation for the contact with the enemy. In seconds, it had been decided that Lynx, as the combat specialist, would distract and deal with the enemy, allowing Boar and Tiger to slip past and continue on with the mission. "Jesus fucking Christ, I know you're there, stop being a fuckin' pus-" the woman started before a single kunai pierced the darkness, heading towards her, its aim based entirely off of the sound of her voice.

As the enemy combatant easily sidestepped the lone kunai, smirking at the stupidity of such an attack, she was caught off guard as it was suddenly replaced with the five-foot-four form of what she assumed was a young man, if his somewhat muscled frame was anything to go by as he appeared next to him, throwing a spinning kick that managed to connect with her solar plexus, sending her to the other side of the room.

Lynx fell into his tried and true Hachidori (Hummingbird) stance, a kunai easily falling into his right hand in a reverse grip, as he appraised his female opponent. It was hard for him to fully see in the low lighting, but the woman was dressed in what appeared to be a gray battle dress, with black compression shorts and a matching top underneath, held together at her waist by a large, purple rope that served as a belt. She was also wearing some sort of headband that covered the top of her head, slipping her long red hair down either side of her head with a small tuft stuck down the center, lying flat on her nose. Hell, Lynx may have even thought the woman was cute, had she not been trying to kill him and his team.

By the time he had finished his appraisal of his opponent, the woman had already gotten to her feet, screaming something about being one of her _Orochimaru-Sama's elite_ , left in charge of the facility as they pulled out, but if he was being honest with himself, Lynx couldn't have cared less about her name, rank or whatever. That was Moreno Ibiki's job to find out, and he would ensure he was able to.

Forming some Kage Bunshin which quickly jumped into the shadows of the large room, Lynx rushed forward, in a serpentine fashion across the center of the room, intent on taking down the woman before she could deal any form of massive damage that might compromise his mission. As he appeared on the woman's left, he launched the kunai at her throat, overloading the chakra in his feet to launch him over her in a twisting half flip, forming the seals for, and calling out a Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu as he did so, his singular kunai changing into over thirty as he landed on the far side of the redhead, a fuuma shuriken already in hand and flying towards her.

The redhead, focused intently on dodging the multitude of kunai that had quickly come to rain on her from one side, nearly missed the large windmill shuriken that would have caught her square in the shoulder blades had she not thrown herself forwards into a shoulder roll at nearly the last second, before widening her eyes in abject anger, and shock as the bladed weapon curved back towards her, causing her to leap to the side to avoid being split in two. Unfortunately, as it passed her, she cursed once more as she saw the attached smoke bomb, which promptly exploded, covering the room in a thick mask of black smoke.

Lynx smiled grimly to himself, as he moved seamlessly through the room, noting with satisfaction as the other members of his team passed through the room, getting by as he continued to deal with his lone opponent. He sighed to himself as he created more Kage Bunshin, sending them out in multiple directions, their instructions already ingrained in their minds as he moved towards the woman who had by now regained her footing and was cursing him with a mouth that would make a sailor blush. Had he not been under strict orders to take as many alive as he was able, this woman would have already been eliminated. He was a sharp and precise blade, and mistakes were not tolerated, though, so he stayed his hand, instead ushering forth a small wind jutsu that cleared the smoke, allowing the woman to focus on him once again.

"Alright you son of a bitch, now you've really pissed me off." The redhead glowered, while Lynx merely tilted his head to the side, before vanishing in a shunshin, appearing in front of the young woman who he had gauged to be at about a high chunin level. The woman's face contorted into one of shock, yet again, a look that the masked ANBU operative had begun to think was quite befitting of her, as before she knew what had happened, his right arm had flown up, a small, concentrated Rasengan forming in the small of his hand before he slammed it into the flute she had been constantly attempting to raise to her lips.

As he did so, her flute shattered, and she screamed at him before he noticed some form of marking begin to appear over her entire body. 'Alright. Well I suppose that's enough of that can't have this get _too_ out of hand', Lynx thought to himself, as he pulsed his chakra, sending the signal to his clones to spring their trap, right as the redheaded woman found herself dead center of the room, and now unable to move. The feline masked man cocked his head once more to the side, and if the subordinate of the snake Sannin had been able to see under the mask she was positive she would look upon a knowing smirk, as a large sealing array lit up around the floor of the room, before Lynx himself made a few discrete hand seals, slamming his palm into the ground, calling out "Uzumaki shīru gijutsu: Itsuwari no hikari no hanten hashira (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Inverted Pillars of False Light!)". As his hand hit the ground and the woman was now trapped, she nervously looked around her, and desperately attempted to call upon her chakra, only to pale as the warmth that was permeated her core was found to be empty. Before she had a chance to dwell on it though, five pillars made of a blue energy descending from the ceiling around her, forming a vague pentagram around her, a multitude of lines and various kanji appearing in between all of them, intertwining and connecting them together before she could feel her consciousness itself slipping from her, as she crumpled to the floor in a heap, her mind effectively sealed off from her body, placing her into a state similar to being comatose, only with a live and active mind with an unresponsive body. Lynx waited for several seconds, ensuring that his opponent was incapacitated, before he approached her fallen form, activating the sealing matric he had on his left breast. In a small puff of smoke that was like a signature to any summoning jutsu, a large scroll appeared on the ground, and after a few short movements and some quick writing, Lynx sealed the unconscious woman inside of it, before resealing the scroll itself into his chest, before standing and running down the hall after his comrades, making a small force of Kage Bunshin to finish surveying the room as he made his exit.

* * *

The three members of the raid force knelt in front of their Hokage, all of their heads bowed out of their complete respect for their leader. The old Hokage had had them there for several minutes, simply looking through the folder that had been presented to him, which encompassed all of the actions the team had taken while they were on assignment. If he was being honest with himself, the old man was pleased, quite pleased with how things had gone, for it was on raids like these where things could very quickly go sideways, and it wasn't unheard of for entire teams of Agents to fall in their pursuit.

However, this particular mission had gone splendidly, and had almost no problems, even ending in the capture of one of Orochimaru's personal guards, if the girl's ramblings were to be believed. He made a mental note to seek out Ibiki later on and see what he had gleaned from the woman, who he was currently working over and interrogating right now. Yes, overall he was quite pleased as even though he had given operational command to a less senior agent, the Lieutenant had performed remarkably well under the circumstances, leading his team with precision and professionalism.

The old Hokage turned around slowly, before raising his head to let it rest in the cradle created by his two hands under his chin, speaking softly, but with nothing less than the absolute authority that belonged to his position. "Tiger, you are dismissed, inform Cat that she may enter on your way out. Lynx, Boar, stand and take your positions at the side." With a clipped and gruff 'Hokage-Sama' both men moved out of the way, as Cat entered the room following Tiger's departure.

Cat moved with a purpose in the Hokage's Office, standing strong and tall with every bit of poise and prestige her rank and status carried. She moved to stand dead center at the Hokage's desk, saluting, before standing off to the side of the desk, falling into a modified stance on the position of attention, before addressing Lynx, who had come to attention himself up the entry of his captain. "Sou-Taichou Lynx. You stand here today not only to be recognized by your servitude to Konohagakure, but to be officially recognized in your new title. Front and center."

At this, Lynx moved to the middle of the room, still not quite comprehending what was happening. He had known that his Captain had been on her way out of the ANBU Corps, but he was blissfully unaware that her chosen replacement was him. As he moved to the center of the room and knelt in front of his Captain, he was still slightly bewildered as Cat resumed speaking. "Boar Taichou, do you vouch for the fidelity and abilities of Lynx, giving your blood bound word that he is not only qualified, but justly represented for the position of Taichou?"

Stepping forward, the large burly man raised his palm to his chest in a stone fist, speaking gruffly, yet no less solemn, "I, Boar, having seen firsthand the fidelity and abilities of Lynx, do recommended him for Taichou in the ANBU Corps, to rank as such and command his division." Having said his part, Boar stepped back, returning to attention, as the Hokage continued to look on silently, appraising the ceremony with an expert eye, as Cat stepped forward once again, this time with her right hang glowing a dull crimson color, the flames dancing upon her fingertips.

"Do you, Lynx, swear to uphold the ideals and values of the ANBU, leading this division with distinction and loyalty, accepting nothing but victory, choosing to tread in the shadows that even the ANBU themselves fear to walk, leading as an impenetrable force and an unstoppable barrier?" Lynx, hearing his verbal que, remained kneeling, but raised his masked head, making eye contact with his captain of over two years, as he spoke. "Upon my honor as a defender of the Leaf, I pledge my heart and soul in their defense." He finished, standing to his full height, and performing a crisp right-face, revealing his left shoulder to his Captain, his ANBU tattoo on full display.

Cat stepped forward, before bringing her flame coated hand to the blondes shoulder, wincing behind her mask at the sound and sensation of burning flesh, as all the members of the room watched on as Lynx's ANBU Tattoo changed from that of a basic recruit to that of a captain, the scarring flesh a testament to his will and dedication. All three members of the ANBU Corps faced towards their Hokage, forming the hard clenched fist in their right hand before rising it to cover their hearts.

The Hokage nodded once, simply and effectively dismissing his two ANBU captains, and watching in satisfaction as they vanished in their own respective shunshins, before addressing the former captain Cat. "Yugao, I think you made the right choice in your successor." He mused, before turning to puff on his signature wooden pipe, watching out of the corner of his eye as the purple haired woman slowly reached her hand up to the porcelain mask that had been her face for the last several years, removing it and placing it on the Hokage's desk, allowing a small, wry smile to grace her features.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama, I believe he will do just fine."

* * *

The blonde haired man walked through the streets of Konoha, dressed in what used to be his usual ninja garb. It felt almost alien to him now, after having worn the uniform of the black ops division for over three years. It was odd, he thought to himself as he trudged along one of the many side streets of his village, that he had while he considered the village his home, he had spent most of his life away from it, from his early life training with the Toda Sage, Jiraiya, to even his time spent in ANBU, when he was often gone on missions.

Yet, he considered the village his home, though he was rarely there. He mused that his view would likely change once he eventually leave the Corps, but that wasn't likely to be anytime soon, if he had his way. He genuinely enjoyed being in ANBU, and upon his promotion to Captain he had begun to appreciate it even more. It was actually in part because of his association with the program that he was able to do what he had planned today.

Yes, today he was on a mission, though it was more of an off the record type deal, he mused to himself as he walked towards training ground 44, aptly nicknamed "The Forest of Death" by its denizens and more especially, by the woman who had made the training grounds her home. He had no doubt that seeing Anko again for the first time in several years would turn out to be confrontational, but he figured he could quell her anger rather quickly with his reason for being there.

Over the last few months, the young blonde man had become a true master of Fuuinjutsu, reaching heights in the lost art that even the renowned seal master Jiraiya couldn't hope to achieve in this lifetime. It was during his studies, and while looking over various recovered notebooks from several of Orochimaru's bases, that he had finally figured out the way to relieve Konoha's own resident snake mistress of her curse mark.

He had even done an experiment of his own, testing his theory and method by removing the curse mark of the Sound Kunoichi, Tayuya, who he had captured nearly a year ago during one of his final tests to become a captain. It had been an ordeal, and the woman had been less than cooperative, especially after she realized just who in fact he was, but nevertheless, he had managed to remove the cured mark from her body.

This had all been about a month ago, he would have gone and met with his old sensei sooner, but he wanted to be sure that there would be no negative lasting effects from the forced removal of something that had been a part of the kunoichi for so many years. As stone hearted as he had become (one had to be if they were going to survive in the ANBU), he still had a soft spot for Anko, as she was one of the first friends he had ever made in Konoha who had made time for him, instead of the shunning he had been used to when he was younger.

Lynx, no-Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto he reminded himself, was pulled out of his thoughts by the kunai that sailed past his cheek, slicing it open as the purple haired Kunoichi in question appeared behind him, holding him close to her with her offending knife pointed at his throat. "Well, look who _finally_ decides to come say 'hello' after all these years! And after all I did for you, too!" Anko mock pouted, releasing the blonde from her grasp as she brought her hand up to her forehead, acting in mock hurt at the situation.

Naruto grinned, it had been awhile since he had seen his old sensei, and he had to say, he missed her antics. That was part of the whole reason he was doing this in the first place. He could have simply taught one of the more adept at Fuuinjutsu members of his division and sent them in his place, but Anko was important to him, and he absolutely wanted to be sure that nothing went awry. "Hey Anko, long time no see?" He laughed lightheartedly at the older woman still acting out how hurt she was at his lack of contact, but he knew that she was aware of the constraints of being in the ANBU Corps, so he didn't even bother to explain it, he was always in favor of the direct approach, anyways.

So, he said the one thing that any girl wants to hear, that is, as long as the girl happened to have a cursed seal on the side of her neck that she wanted to desperately be rid of for the last several years. "I've figured out how to remove the curse seal."

Later on, Naruto would wish he had brought a camera with him, for the look that the snake mistress gave him was priceless. All noise seemed to stop in the small clearing that they were in, as Anko immediately ceased her eccentric motions, stopping mid step to stare at the younger blonde. She walked up to him, slowly and deliberately, stopping only when the two were face to face, her face searching his for any sign of ill intent, before asking slowly, "Really?"

"Really."

* * *

Naruto opened the door, and before he even had to say anything, Anko walked inside and looked around, taking stock of her surroundings. The room she and the blonde were in was plain, to say the least. It was a simple square room, with a light fixture in the center ceiling, and no windows, or even any furniture present. As the purplette looked over her shoulder at her old student closing the door, she was slightly startled to see that it fit seamlessly into the wall, giving the illusion that the room had no exit. However, the room wasn't dreary or anything like one might expect, actually being a nice warm temperature, and had it been furnished, it could even have been cozy.

"Alright, here we go… Uhh Anko?" Naruto started, looking away from her, and though he tried to hide it, she was able to make out the blush that was forming on his face quite easily. "I need you to take your shirt off. I need the room to write out everything." The blonde finished, looking up at her somewhat sheepishly as Anko merely gave a small grin, before shrugging off her signature trench coat, before bringing her hands low, and grabbing the hem of her fishnet shirt, pulling it up an over her head, exposing her very sizeable bust to Naruto, who had the decency to try and look away, though it was more of an honorable effort than nothing else.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Naruto quickly created four Kage Bunshin who scattered to the four corners of the room, each one beginning to write out the vast and complex array of seals that would quickly cover the floor, as the original one began to write out the seals required on the body of Anko herself. The brush he was using was found to be quite ticklish to the Tokubetsu Jounin, especially when he began to paint over the front of her body and around her erect nipples. It also took a great deal of concentration for the blonde to focus entirely on his work, and not to spend _too_ much time ogling the admittedly gorgeous body of the snake mistress.

Before long, all the seals had been completed, and after laying out a nearby scroll, the young ANBU Captain was ready to begin, and did so in earnest after a small warning and apology to Anko. He raised his hand over her curse seal, and briefly his hand flashed a dark blue, the flames dancing along his fingertips colliding into a bright yellow as he grabbed the air over her seal akin to grabbing a doorknob, turning it as if to open.

This is when things became difficult, for as the seal was opened, it began to fight back, and the dark whispers of Orochimaru himself filled the room, as Anko began to convulse in pain from the experience. Doing his best to ignore her, Naruto began channeling his own chakra into the seal, boosting the already overpowering matrix that cascaded all around the floor of the room. Soon, there was a dark flash of light, and then an orange energy pierced the skin on Anko's shoulder, flowing out of the center of the seal and floating in the air, before Naruto was able to bring his other hand over, swiftly writing out the kanji to several more seals in the air with a chakra laces finger, his words and characters lingering for a small second in the air before vanishing. After he finished writing out all of the seals in the air, the energy itself began to slowly seep across the room and flow into the scroll that had been laid out, sealing its vile power away.

This process repeated for around four hours, long after which Anko had passed out from the pain, but eventually all of the orange energy that had been forcefully implanted into the snake summoner had been extracted and sealed into the scroll. Naruto, after finishing the sealing, and checking the status of the older kunoichi and verifying that not only was she ok, but that the seal itself had vanished, turned to the scroll containing the essence of Orochimaru, and without a second thought, burnt it to dust with a small Katon jutsu. Looking back to Anko, he quickly re-dressed her, but not before taking a second to appreciate her figure. He then lifted her into his arms, bridal style, and through deft use shunshin arrived at his house, walking up to his large bed, gently laying Anko upon it, before he walked back down the stairs, barely making it to the couch before passing out himself.

Removing those damn seals was taxing.

* * *

Naruto awoke from his dreams with a start, something was off about where he was. Opening his eyes, he glanced around his room, but was unable to discern anything out of the ordinary about his bedroom, so he went to sit up, but was stopped by the small mumble that he heard slightly to his left, and the weight on his chest, and that's when it came back to him…

* * *

 _The young Uzumaki heir walked upstairs to check on the newest addition to his house, opening the door to his bedroom and finding Anko looking at herself in the mirror which stopped him in his tracks, his reason for walking up the stairs completely forgotten. It wasn't that Anko was looking in the mirror that caught him off guard, it was that she wasn't wearing a shirt, and was facing him with her head turned over her shoulder, examining the small patch of skin on her neck where her curse seal used to sit. Now though, it was blank, and the only evidence that it was ever there was the slightly lighter patch of skin that would soon fade into the same color the rest of her skin was. To say Anko was ecstatic was an understatement, gone were the constant voices in her head, gone were the random spasms of pain that would hit her at random times, they were all gone. She could finally think clearly again, and there was only one person to thank for that, one person, who if by the awkward silence that filled the room, was no in the same place as her, and privately, too. The snake mistress, for all her forethought, in her moment of elation could only think of one way to thank him._

 _Slowly turning her head, she made contact with the dumbfounded Uzumaki, walking softly towards him, making sure to put a sway into her hips as she closed with him. As she stepped closer, the young man in question backed away in unconscious, uncertain, steps until he hit the large bed that adorned the center of the room, which Anko took advantage of, closing the rest of the distance on him, and pulling him into a hug, pressing her breasts into his chest._

 _"Good morning, Hero" She greeted softly into his ear as she pushed him back onto the bed, starting to notice the slightly more primal look in Naruto's eyes as he visibly struggled not to give into his inhibitions._

 _She'd break him of that before long._

* * *

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts on the night before by the purple haired Jounin that was laying across his chest lifting her head to give him a sly grin, before she leaned up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Well, good morning again, Mr. Hero." Anko teased at him as she softly raked her fingers across the man's toned chest. "And how did you like your reward for a job well done?" She asked with a laugh.

The blond haired Jinchuriki had the decency to scratch the back of his head in mock embarrassment, trying not to show just _how much_ he had enjoyed it last night. Chuckling, Naruto gazed down at the woman sharing his bed, before responding. "I had a good time, Anko." He paused, trying to choose his next words carefully, before deciding against it and going for a direct approach, like he usually did. "Anko… I'm not trying to ditch out on you, but I have to get to headquarters today. I spent a lot of time working on the removal of the seal and I have to report to the Hokage that it was a success. I don't have time to play games this morning." He managed to get out, keeping his cool despite the very gorgeous and very naked kunoichi curled around him.

He moved to get out of the bed, but was stopped when he felt Anko's delicate fingers wrap around his length, below the covers. Snapping his head over to her, he could only close his eyes and enjoy the sensations he was receiving under the snake mistress's expert touch on his manhood. "Aw, really? Because it looks to me like this guy doesn't really want to leave all that bad…" Anko trailed off, watching the blondes face contort in pleasure as her hand masterfully stroked him. It wasn't long before Naruto let out a low, almost primal growl, before rolling over on top of Anko, beginning ministrations of his own.

He supposed he could be a few minutes late.

* * *

 **Alright, so I am changing things up a bit from canon, most specifically, there will be NO chunin exams. I always felt it was a kind of lame way to go about getting promoted, and I didn't like the whole concept of it being used an exhibition/tournament to get clientele or some shit like that. The invasion of Suna/Oto will still be happening, it will just play out a little bit differently, and will take place on a later date. As of now, all the people in Naruto's original class are somewhere in the ballpark of 15 years old, having graduated to become Genin at 13. Field promotions are much more likely in my universe, and it is the most common way to rank up. This is in part to get rid of the whole concept that these 10 or 11 children who are no more than 14-16 years old, are completely wrecking all these battle hardened men who are strong as fuck. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	8. The Masks We Wear

**Hey all, welcome back to the next chapter of 'Immortalized'! I'm gonna go ahead and apologize for the several spelling errors in the last chapter. When I was proofreading it I was still half asleep, and I let a lot more get by than is acceptable. Hey, shit happens. Anyways, onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **The Masks We Wear**

* * *

Lynx walked down the main hall of the Seventh Division's headquarters, happy to have his porcelain mask depicting the animal that was his codename back in place, secured firmly over his head. It was odd, he mused, as he continued along, that over the last few years in ANBU, he had come to see the mask he had donned as his real face, and his actual, physical face as the mask. He had become, in a sense, dependent on the mask.

His position within ANBU was absolute, he answered only to the Hokage, and on occasion, Lord Danzo, though the man had been dealing less and less with the normal ANBU forces and had seemed to be pulling out of the program. Within the Corps, Lynx had power. He was in a position of authority where his word was law, and while he definitely wasn't drunk on the power that had been granted to him, he would admit that it was convenient at times.

He had also come to own the tattoo that he had on his left bicep with pride, a pride that only an ANBU Captain could share with him. Yes, all in all the fifteen year old Lynx had come to enjoy his position in the black ops division, and he would be loath to leave it when the time eventually came for him. He knew that the typical operative only served for a total of five years within the organization, and he was quickly approaching his fourth. However, it was said that the Captains usually served a little longer, so he couldn't be too sure on how much longer he had left in the program. He'd savor every adrenaline filled moment, though, for Lynx was a bit of a danger junkie. The only thing he could say with certainty that he hated about the Corps, was the paperwork that came with being a Captain.

Lynx managed to hold back the small shudder, as he thought back to the meeting he had had with his Hokage earlier that morning, soon after his little escapade with Konoha's resident snake mistress.

 _Flashback- Earlier that morning_

 _The Hokage was sitting at his desk, working on his ever growing pile of paperwork that never seemed to diminish, no matter how hard he worked on it, when he was almost caught off guard by a kunai knife sailing through his open window, impacting the ground just in front of his desk. The Hokage raised an eyebrow in mild surprise, not really concerned with it, until he noticed the strange markings along its hilt, and the odd three-pronged design of the knife, soon accompanied by blue flash that was reminiscent of the yellow one that had come to be recognized worldwide._

 _As the light quickly faded, the figure of one of his most trusted and reliable Captains was kneeled before him, his ever-present katana crossed over the back of his ANBU uniform, one arm clad in armor on the ground in a clenched fist. "You sent for me, Hokage-Sama." The young blonde headed captain stated, before the Hokage got over his light stupor and addressed him._

 _"So, you've finally mastered the Hiraishin, then? Congratulations! I remember when Minato himself first showed me it…" The old man spoke softly, and as he watched the young man rise to his feet, he couldn't help but be reminded of his late successor, though to be fair the blonde hair and blue eyes weren't really helping in this case. "Anyways, on to the matter at hand, here's what I need you to do…"_

 _End Flashback_

Lynx allowed himself a light chuckle at the memory, seeing as no one was around before he checked his emotions and stepped up to the door leading to the prison sector of the compound, waiting patiently as the two division guards verified his identity though chakra identification and various other methods, before he was allowed on his way. His destination was the cell occupied by the lone kunoichi he and his team had captured some months prior on a raid into one of Orochimaru's bases. So far, the woman had been questioned by several members of the Torture and Interrogation department, but seeing as how everyone was under special orders to not cause any undue harm, they hadn't been able to glean too much from the woman that wasn't already known from various other prisoners and Jiraiya's own spy network.

As he approached the cell, he remembered his orders from his Hokage and sighed, considering the technicalities that hed have to perform during this 'interrogation', if he could call it that. He paused briefly at the door, before nodding slightly to the two guards who released the various seals that had been placed over the entrance of the door, opening it and allowing the young blonde ANBU Captain inside.

Lynx had been inside the prison cells below Konoha before, every agent had. It was a part of their retention training, in fact, and before they could call themselves full members, they had to spend a week in the cells below their village, being tortured and questioned the entire time. Lynx had passed his with flying colors, and had been better for it, the few scars he had gained during that time quickly fading due to the beast he contained in his body.

He looked around, get a quick assessment of his surroundings, and noting absentmindedly that the various small amenities of the cells hadn't really changed in the few years since he had been down here. The cell he was in contained the minimum amount of items to keep it dull and dreary, but still hospitable and humane. There was a steel framed bed against the far wall, with a small sink and toilet falling next to each other on the far end, the only other addition to the room being a small desk and two chairs which were all nailed to the floor. And then, sitting on the bed itself was the kunoichi he had fought before.

She looked up at him, and for a brief second, he was sure that she didn't recognize him, he had grown a decent amount from the last time they had met, and his figure was also more defined from all of his hard training. This feeling soon faded though, as he watched her eyes narrow as she began glaring steel daggers at him, her dark brown orbs somehow piercing the darkness that was her cell.

"Oh, fuckin' great! Not only do you Konoha pieces of shit decide to keep me locked up in this god damn cell, asking me fuckin' questions all fucking day and night, but now you assholes gotta add insult to injury by sending in the cunt that beat me!" The foul mouthed kunoichi grumbled towards the new arrival to her cell, standing up and crossing her arms under her bust, cocking her hip out to the side as she looked on at her captor.

Lynx merely stood there, taking in the form of the woman, who had shed (or rather been forced to change) her old Oto robes and replaced them with a gray form-fitting prisoners singlet. While it was still just ever so slightly baggy it did not do much to keep her figure hidden, and whether or not she wanted to, she was giving Lynx quite the treat, especially considering the events of his previous night. Suffice to say, Lynx was quite thankful for his mask, otherwise he may have been sporting a blush. "Good Morning, Tayuya." He spoke simply, before moving to the side and taking a seat in one of the chairs, slinging his blade from off of his shoulders before placing it next to him, leaning it against the table.

The woman in question simply glared at him, before taking a seat herself at the opposite end of the table doing her best to not become unnerved by the unwavering eyes of the mask that stared back at her. "I'll start then. As you've correctly guessed, I was the one who defeated you, and subsequently captured you. The Hokage, in his wisdom, has seen fit me to come here and talk with you, and see if we can't broker a deal, of sorts." The man began, before sighing softly to himself, reaching his right hand up to the side of his mask, and after only a brief second of hesitation, unclasping it, bringing it down and placing it upon the desk, raising his head to lock eyes with the redheaded kunoichi.

Tayuya had been in the middle of sucking in a breath to begin her massive tirade of insults that she was going to spew at the man as he finished speaking and took off his mask, when her breath hitched for a brief second as she met his eyes. She was definitely unprepared for how young the man was, being about her own age if she had to guess. Tayuya had assumed from the way that the man fought, and from the way he carried himself and acted that he was older, being at least in his mid-twenties.

The young woman was also surprised by the man's looks. She had known he had a defined body, most ninja do, but his face was truly something else. When he had his mask in place the man exuded an aura of confidence and mystique, but now with it removed, she was able to stare into his cold, steely blue eyes, that somehow made her feel secure, but at the same time as if she was in danger. She paused in her tracks, doing her absolute best to fight the small blush that was beginning to spread across her face as she took in his visage, committing everything in it to memory, from the long dull blonde locks that brushed his face, to the two fading whisker marks on either side of his face.

"Yes, I know, it's odd for an ANBU to remove their mask, especially in the presence of a prisoner, but the Hokage's orders are absolute, and the chances of your escape are zero- especially with the modifications to your cell that I have made. Your best chances of ever leaving this cell are with me." Naruto began, noticing the lack of conversation that had permeated as soon as he had dropped his mask. Closing his eyes and leaning his head back, he sighed to himself, before crossing his arms. He would have just as much preferred to keep his mask on, or rather, not have had to partake in this at all, but orders were orders.

Shaken from her thoughts, Tayuya let out the breath she forgot shed been holding, before speaking in her usual hot blooded manor, laughing before she began. "You seriously think that just taking off your mask will get me to trust you, shithead? You must be more retarded than I thought! Listen here, Tree Fucker…" She paused as she leaned in close to the man who had been her captor, coming nearly close enough to be touching noses as she continued. "…I don't give two shits what you or anyone else here offers. I don't give a fuck that you removed my curse seal. You're not getting anything else even if you kill me."

After listening to her little rant, Naruto opened his eyes, standing from the chair, and crossing his arms. She wanted to play games? That was fine with him, he was already pissed off to be here, so he may as well make the most of it. He could even play it off as the Hokage's orders, he mused as he turned around, his back now facing her, before letting out a small laugh that started out as a low, deep chuckle, gradually beginning to build in size and tone, before it was full blown, barking laughter, slowly turning to look back at the woman in the cell, his new look freezing her to the core, as the first thing she noticed was that gone were the cold blue eyes that confused her, and replacing them were the red, slitted irises of a monster.

Naruto stalked across the room towards her, watching in mild satisfaction as she at first attempted to stand firm, but very rapidly sunk back into her chair as he approached her, allowing a deep red shroud of chakra to form around his body. He leaned in towards her, placing one hand on either side of the chair, effectively blocking her in as he leaned in close, bringing his now feral and beastly looking face to bear with hers, watching as she shrunk back even further as he bore his elongated canines at her, speaking with a now deep and gravelly voice that reverberated throughout the room, simultaneously fixing her in a glare that contained all of the killing intent he could muster.

"That's fine with me. I don't mind killing you, and I would have done so easily, oh so easily the first time I saw you, if I hadn't been under strict orders to capture, not kill. But here…" Naruto paused as he brought his right hand up to her face, dragging one of his now-claws across her cheek, just strongly enough to draw a small amount of blood as he continued, "…I have full access to maim, torture, and I can even return the curse seal to you that I 'oh so graciously' removed. It wouldn't even be hard…" He trailed off as he leaned back slightly, withdrawing his hand, and quite suddenly dropping everything as he turned around, the aura, his eyes and hands, everything returned to normal as the young blonde haired man returned to his seat on the other side of the table, folding his hands and leaning back. "But, I'd rather not do that, cleaning the blood out of this uniform is a bit of a pain in the ass…"

Tayuya was choking on air. Just when she thought she had the man before her figured out as a soft spoken individual, he turns into a complete monster right before her eyes, terrifying her more than the soft, subtle thoughts of her death like her former master. Then, he dropped the whole thing, returning to normal and acting like nothing had changed, before revealing to her that it was he who had removed her curse seal. Shaking softly, and quickly steeling herself before fixing the blonde with a halfhearted glare, she submitted. "Why are you even here, Shithead?" She questioned, not noticing that her hands were still clenched belong the table hard enough to draw blood.

"Well, I'm glad we got that out of the way, because honestly, I don't like having to go into my 'interrogation' mode as I call it. Does a number on my voice." Naruto joked, attempting to lighten the mood as he cleared his throat. "Now, onto the business at hand. Just cooperate with me for a bit, alright Tayuya? And I can probably hook you up with some better living quarters and the like. Hell, if you come far enough, it's not unheard of for people in your position to become a full fledge shinobi of Konohagakure."

Tayuya, for her part, merely looked into the blonde's eyes, carefully brushing a strand of straw red hair behind her ear. For some reason, although it was far, far too soon to say she trusted the young blonde haired Shinobi, she could say that she believed his offer, and really, it wouldn't wasn't too farfetched of an idea to change allegiance and become a ninja of another village. It had happened several times in the past, why not for her? Hell, she'd do just about anything to get out of the cell that had been her home for the past few months.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked over the report that had been given to him by the ANBU's Seventh Division's Captain, Lynx, on the kunoichi he had captured from one of Orochimaru's bases. They had learned little from her, but what they had, was quite valuable. The largest and by far most important piece of information that they had gained was that the Sandaime's own wayward student was the current leader of Otogakure, the budding young village that had sprouted up almost overnight to the north of Konoha and west of the land of Hot Water.

Unfortunately, as much as launching a full scale assault against the land was appealing, it had been heavily advised against by the council, and even the personal envoys from the Daimyo had voiced their concern against it. Tensions were already thin with their relations to Sunagakure, and launching into a full scale war, even against one of the smaller countries, could mean disastrous consequences for Konoha, and Hiruzen was far fast the impulsive decisions he had been somewhat prone to make earlier in his life.

The old Hokage puffed thoughtfully on his pipe, savoring the tobacco as he continued reading the report as he came to the section on the kunoichi herself. Lynx had conducted a thorough 'interrogation' of the woman, following through on his investigation, and treating it more as a conversation between old friends instead of questioning an enemy shinobi. He hadn't learned too much more from the young woman, as Ibiki and the various Yamanaka's had done a very thorough job in their initial questioning of the young woman.

However, one thing he had gleaned in their several sessions that the blonde had conducted with Tayuya over the last couple months, was that there was no love lost between her and Orochimaru, and that one of the largest things keeping her loyal to him was the cursed mark upon her neck, and the relationship she had with someone in Oto, though she refused to say who, no matter how hard he pushed. Lynx had come to a conclusion on the woman, that while she could not be 'explicitly' trusted as a full and independent ninja of Konoha, she might one day be able to, and had even gone so far as to recommend her for early parole and probation, under a Jounin's supervision, of course.

The old Hokage thought it over, switching his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other, before grinning in the way that only 'someone who has just made a decision that will absolutely screw with someone else who has no way of retaliating against them', can. The old man had found a solution to the young woman's problem, and although he would be putting her under the supervision of someone who wasn't necessarily a Jounin, per-say, he would put in special instructions for her to have a specially modified version of their 'prisoner retention seal' put in place. This would be an interesting play indeed, and the ageing Hokage chuckled lightly to himself before signed the paper, stamping it with the official Hokage's seal, before calling out to his personal assistant to come collect the papers.

He was positive that this would irritate the young ANBU Captain to no end, but it would also help him to begin retaining his humanity. Though he didn't show it on the outside, the Sandaime was beginning to become slightly worried about the man. He had seen the way the young man acted both under the mask and when he was free of it, and it was clear that Naruto was conflicted over his identity. He had watched the way he reacted when he was ordered to remove his mask for the purpose of gaining a baseline during the interrogation, and noticed the slight hesitation that anyone else might have missed. He would begin the process to phase Naruto out of ANBU before too long, as soon as he hit the five year mark, which wasn't too far away, being a mere eight months out. He wanted to do it sooner, but he'd wait out of respect for the boy, and he also needed to give him time to select a replacement Captain.

He just hoped he wouldn't be too late in helping the boy retain his humanity.

* * *

Lynx sat quietly around the small cooking fire, eating the smoked rabbit with the three other members of his squad, Hawk, Weasel, and Badger. The four of them had gone out on a scouting and possible combat mission past the border of Fire Country, and a small distance inside the lines of Water Country. The team was tracking whatever had left the rather large trail of destruction that they had been following for the last several days.

Normally, it would be quite a big issue to have an ANBU team inside the border of another country, but Kiri was still largely involved in its civil war, though the former Mizukage, Yagura, had been killed in combat by the leader of the resistance force, Terumi Mei. Though Mei had tried to perform a swift takeover of the broken country, it was not to be had as many smaller factions had rapidly popped up all over the country, and no forces could currently be spared to perform regular border checks and patrols.

So here Lynx's team was, somewhere below the southernmost border of Hot Water, and far enough into water that the far off islands of what used to be Uzushigakure were just barely in view. They had been tracking what Lynx had the sinking suspicion was the lost Bijuu, the Sanbi. It had become well known by now that the late Mizukage had been the three-tailed Jinchuriki, and when he had been slain, the somewhat elusive beast had slunk off somewhere to heal and be reborn.

That was actually one of the reasons that Lynx had been chosen to lead this mission, as with his sealing prowess, he alone would be the one who was most able to seal the beast away in the event it was actually what he and the Hokage feared. The other reason for his placement being that he was the container of such a beast himself, and if anyone had to face it, he would be the most likely to come out on top. However, this did nothing to still Lynx's beating heart, for though on the outside he was calm and collected, on the inside he knew that this mission could go awry in a heartbeat, and if the Sanbi did indeed show its head, it would likely be the toughest fight of his life.

Before Lynx could take another bite of the rabbit he held in his hands, he was instantly placed on high alert as one of the many clones he had scouting and keeping guard for the small camp dispelled, leaving him with the vision of two figures running across the water and hopping between the small islands, seemingly in pursuit of the large chakra signature he had been aware of for the last several minutes. The weird thing that caught him off guard though, was the attire of the two men that ran across the landscape.

They were wearing black cloaks that were adorned with red clouds, and if anything was to be judged by the chakra levels even he could sense from this distance, they were at a minimum A-Class, if not higher. His clone had been unable to see their headbands, the cloaks themselves didn't show any village alignment as far as he knew, and his knowledge was only superseded by the Hokage himself. Lynx sighed softly to himself, dropping the rabbit and signing a few quick commands to his team as they rushed to move out in pursuit.

None of this boded well, and a fight was almost guaranteed at this point. The adrenaline junkie of a Captain shrugged his shoulders, before leaping into the thinning trees, fully intent on leading his team to another victory. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. A one-hundred-percent mission success rate spoke for itself.

* * *

Although the task force from Konoha left immediately after laying eyes on the two unidentified men, by the time they arrived to the area that the three large chakra signatures had congregated and stopped at, the battle was already underway. Lynx and his team came to a halt on one of the small islands, accessing the situation at hand, and watching as the Sanbi, enraged at this point, slammed one of its three tails into the blonde haired man he had been unable to identify, slamming the man deep underwater, while his partner just watched on, with what seemed to be a bored look on his face, though it was hard to tell as the man was hunched over, and a cloth that served as a mask that covered his entire lower face.

Lynx looked to his team, quickly unsealing four large scrolls that he handed to each one of his team, speaking in a terse, yet commanding voice. "You know what to do, move to the four corners of the area and begin the sealing. I'm moving in to distract and apprehend whoever decided to crash this party, and then I'll move to assist." Making one final decision, Lynx channeled his chakra and four copies of himself popped into view, each moving with one of the members of his team. "Have them dispel and relay any problems to me. You were all chosen by me for this mission, now go prove that I didn't make a mistake. Move!" Lynx yelled as his team phased out of view in front of his eyes, as he turned and faced towards the hunched man that seemed to have noticed his presence. Narrowing his eyes behind his mask, a tri-pronged kunai appearing in his hand as he threw the metal blade as hard as he could, aiming directly for the hunched figure.

He had been correct in assuming that the man was aware of him, for as the blade approached him the man dodged, easily placing himself off to the side of the offending kunai, but unfortunately not moving far enough away as Lynx flashed to the kunai in a streak of electric blue, and before the unidentified man was able to respond in kind, he found a small, glowing ball of energy slammed into his back, crumpling him. Lynx frowned behind his mask as he leapt back, unconsciously channeling chakra to his feet to keep him above the rumbling water, the raging Sanbi at his back.

It had been too easy to dispatch his enemy. Now, Lynx knew he was good, but he also knew the limit of his abilities, and those who got over confident in his job often wound up dead. He knew he had contacted with his opponent, he had felt his Rasengan drill into the man's back, and watched as his cloak was ripped to shreds. So he stood, drawing Kaze no Karitoriki and falling into a loose but ready stance, and watched and waited for his enemy to rise. His only baseline for this train of thought was a gut feeling, and the nagging feeling at the back of his mind that anyone who was strong enough to willingly take on one of the tailed beasts would never fall for a tactic like that, even if it was a technique that was only ever used by one man who was known to be dead.

He was rewarded for his patience though, as the fallen body that had begun to drift below the waves shifted, and the form of a young man, younger than even Lynx himself practically flew to the surface, flying over the ANBU Captain who spun on his heel facing his enemy the entire time. The young boy he was facing turned, and that's when Lynx began to notice what was different about him, starting with the joints and ball pivots that made up his body where there should have been skin and bones. Lynx watched on in abject curiosity as the man fully turned, revealing his face to him, and that it when it clicked for the Agent. Taking in the younger teens red hair, brown eyes, and the fact that what he had destroyed was almost certainly a puppet, there was no doubt in his mind who his newest opponent was.

"Akasuna no Sasori. S-Ranked missing-nin of Sunagakure, wanted for the multiple murders of Suna shinobi and civilians, the suspected murder and disappearance of the Sandaime Kazekage, as well as desertion in a time of war, with a bounty of one-hundred-million yen." Lynx stated calmly, reciting the bingo book entry to the letter, falling into a stance more suited to combat against a ranged opponent, preparing himself for the hard fight ahead, watching as the teen before him reached behind his back, pulling a singular scroll from his back, and shooting forward, bringing his blade down in a forward strike, hoping to stop the man from unsealing whatever he had in the scroll.

It was not to be though, as there was a small puff of smoke that emerged from the scroll a fraction of a second before Lynx's blade would have pierced Sasori's shoulder, the agents free hand grabbing ahold of the other man's left wrist, whose hand had been intent on burning him asunder with its built in flame thrower that he narrowly managed to deflect into the water. Lynx's blade was stopped by the arm of a puppet, which Lynx wasted no time in retreating from, and was proved once again correct in his instincts as multiple senbon shot from the mouth of the puppet into the space he had been seconds before. Lynx's eyes widened behind his mask as he gazed up the visage of the Third Kazekage, who appeared to have been transformed into a human combat puppet. Falling into a defensive posture, Lynx began thinking, his tactical mind a blur as it ran through strategy and counterstrategy.

"I see you have me at a disadvantage, ANBU-San. You seem to know quite a bit about me, while I don't even know your identity, and you've already destroyed one of my favorite puppets. It's going to take me quite some time to rebuild him, you know." Sasori drawled out, talking in an almost lazy manner. "But no matter. I'll soon add you to my collection!"

Lynx, his instincts screaming at him, leapt into the air, dodging past the very recognizable "Satetsu(Iron Sand) that had exploded out of the puppets mouth, raining down on the position he had most recently been in, and turning to follow his movements. The young ANBU Captain began falling to the ground, seamlessly creating a Kage Bunshin mid-fall that grabbed him and launched the man towards the real body of Sasori at an alarming speed, even as his clone was destroyed by the sand. However, Sasori hadn't lived this long by having slow reflexes, and moved the puppet that had been the third Kazekage to intercept, unfortunately, his view of Lynx was blocked, and in that quick moment, Lynx flashed to the forgotten kunai that had sunk to some distance down below the surface of the water, leaving a puzzled Sasori above the waves, unable to see his opponent.

He wasn't to wait for long though, as the ANBU who had disappeared launched up from under the waves, and began engaging the puppet user in close combat, quickly being pushed back by the puppet of the Kazekage, falling back a few yards away and beginning combat with his blade anew. So focused was Sasori on his combat with the blonde haired shinobi that he seemed unable to lay a single hit on, that he was caught completely off guard when the single opponent he thought he had been facing suddenly split into over twenty copies, all but three of which engaged his puppet in a flurry of Ninjutsu, while what he assumed to be the original and two other clones appeared in a shunshin above him, hands already frozen in the final seals of three separate jutsu.

A trio of identical voices called out the names of the three separate techniques as they sailed overhead of their redheaded adversary, "Fuuton: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)", "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!), "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!), the large ball of fire being boosted to almost enormous heights as it was boosted by the large gale of wind that amplified it, the blast of blast of lightning breaching the waves as it electrocuted anything that had fallen under the waves in an effort to dodge the blazing inferno that raged above.

Lynx landed on the surface of the water, the memories of his clones hitting him quickly as he realized the fight wasn't over yet. He focused on the memory of one of his clones, who had seen the puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage tear through three of his clones as it rushed to intercept the fire and Sasori, attempting to raise its wall of iron sand in time to block or at lease minimize the oncoming blaze from the absurdly powerful combination jutsu.

Lynx waited, and once again, his patience wasn't for naught as the burnt body of Sasori once again appeared from beneath the waves, looking quite damaged to say the least, if the missing left arm and leg were anything to go by. As the redhead once again began reaching of one of the scrolls on his back, he was completely surprised as for a split second he heard the sound of the wind blowing behind him, right before two larger-than-normal Rasengan's appeared at the base of his next and the small of his back, tearing apart anything in between them and scattering the fragments to the wind, even destroying the chakra implant that had been where the teen's heart would have been had he been alive.

Lynx watched as the man exploded, the 'Lynx' across from him popping out of existence and revealing itself as one of his signature Kage Bunshin. Looking down to his right, Lynx stooped low and grabbed the severed head of the former Suna puppet master, quickly sealing it into a small scroll, before he turned to the scenario behind him, taking in the sight. His team, and his sealing matrix were doing their job perfectly, the tailed beast in front of him being subdued through a complex variation of chakra siphoning, sealing, and releasing. Normally, a Bijuu was unable to be sealed inside of a scroll for any period of time, but Lynx had cracked the way to do it.

To simplify things, Lynx had created a sealing matrix that did four separate things and was perfect for the sealing of one of the weaker Bijuu (He shuddered to think that it would hold back something like the Hachibi or Kyuubi, and hoped he never had to attempt to seal them like this.). It started out simple, the four members of his ANBU squad had taken the large scrolls to each of one of the four corners of the area Lynx had designated, before opening the scroll and channeling just enough chakra into it to active it on a simultaneous signal. After the matrix configured itself between the four starting points, with the Sanbi lying in the middle and in contact with all of them, the containment aspect activated.

This had begun right as Lynx flashed towards Sasori, neither party taking notice of the twenty pillars of purple flame that emerged along the square border between each ANBU, each one falling in onto the enraged beast, smashing down upon it, weighing it down and preventing it from moving. This activated the second step of the sealing process as the four scrolls began to visibly siphon off the chakra of the great beast, absorbing it into itself, before forcefully ejecting it out the other end of the extended parchment, expelling the rancid chakra into the air and dispelling it.

That's when the third aspect of the matrix began, as soon as the chakra of the multi-tailed beast was at a manageable level, a kanji began appearing on the back of the shell of the large beast, being slowly burned into its shell. This seal that was being forcefully implanted on the great beasts back forcefully sealed off the rest of the beasts charka, holding it back like the caged bars in Lynx's own cell that held back the Kyuubi in his mindscape, cutting off the beasts access and link to its power. As the Bijuu was now no stronger than an absurdly strong human, such as a Kage, the fourth and final method of Lynx's sealing matrix began, which pulled the beast itself into the large scroll that Lynx himself had opened as he stood upon its back, yanking the large beast from this plane of reality into that of the pocket dimension created by the scroll.

Lynx breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the scroll, quickly writing out a sealing matrix upon the scroll itself, a security variant, so that only he could gain access and unseal the beast within. Making a mental note to get a blood and chakra sample from the Hokage so he would have the same access, Lynx placed the scroll large enough to belong to a summoning contract on the small of his back. He was soon joined on the waves by the four other members of his squad, and he was about to begin issuing the order to return back to Konoha when he stumbled, being quickly caught by his Lieutenant, Badger, and not recovering.

"Taichou! Are you alright?" The man asked, rolling the man onto his own broad back, allowing the team's medical expert, Weasel, to begin diagnostic. He didn't have to wait long, for as soon as the glowing green light faded from around Weasel's hands he spoke softly to Boar.

"Mild chakra exhaustion. This was to be expected since the final aspect of the sealing matrix pulled directly from his own supply. Additionally, during his battle with the unknown Nin, he appears to have suffered a small cut on his torso, and a poison injected. However, the poison has sense been nullified, seemingly by the Taichou's body itself, though it appears to have severely exhausted. Recommendation: medical attention when available, immediate return to headquarters."

Boar nodded, agreeing with the team's medic as he shifted his Taichou into an easier position to carry, reminiscent of a piggy-back ride, before setting off in a run towards land, heading west towards Konoha.

For as skilled as the team was, they never noticed the strange white bird, flying so high above the now still waves that it could have been mistaken for a normal seagull, nor the blonde haired man that rode atop it.

* * *

 _"So, allow me to restate what you've just told me, just so we're clear, because I might have misheard you." The Sandaime started, chewing the end of his ever present tobacco pipe, as he went over the facts in his head, and the folder on his desk. There was no reason for his agents to lie to him about this, nothing that they could possibly gain from messing with him, and this was going far, much too far for this to be a practical joke, so it had to be true. But the series of events themselves were just… absurd, and yet the mission was actually a success, the odds that they had been pitted against were absolutely insane._

 _"You moved to trail whatever it was that was destroying the small fishing villages on the border of Fire Country. Then, upon tracking out beyond the border, you not only followed it into the territory of a warring country, but evaded all contact with said enemy, performing only light reconnaissance of the area. Then, after coming into visual contact with two unknown entities headed in the direction of the assumed Bijuu, you pursued, engaging one of them in combat and revealing their identity as Akasuna no Sasori and killing him, before finishing the sealing and beating a retreat here?" The Hokage finished, looking at the five kneeling ANBU in his office, his eyes settling on the bowed, dull blonde head of the Captain Lynx, who responded in a clear and concise tone._

 _"Yes, Hokage-Sama. That is correct. In this scroll contains the remains of Sasori, if it is will suffice for the bounty." Lynx thanked Kami for his mask once again, as it managed to completely conceal the smirk that crossed his face._

 _The Hokage, however, chose to ignore the young Captains remark, instead focusing on the large scroll that leaned against the wall on the far side of the room. "And that scroll, it contains the Sanbi?" He questioned, still not fully believing that it was. He had only ordered Lynx to subdue the great beast, and as he hadn't sent any small children with the team of ANBU he wasn't particularly expecting them to return with it sealed in a scroll, as that hadn't ever happened before, to his knowledge._

 _"Hawk, Weasel, Boar, you are dismissed. Lynx, remain. I believe you said something about placing my blood and chakra inside the security seal?"_

* * *

And for the next hour after having the Hokage put into the access list for the Sanbi's scroll, and the scroll itself being locked away in a large vault with the rest of the forbidden artifacts of Konoha, Lynx was berated, then congratulated upon a mission well done, and then berated again. So it was a few hours later when a Lynx with a talked off ear flashed into the home of his father, walking up the stairs to the master bedroom of the house, absentmindedly dropping his mask on the desk to the side, and falling unceremoniously onto his bed, wondering what that small "Oomph" was as he slowly closed his eyes, completely exhausted.

That is, he had thought he was exhausted, for a split second after he had heard the noise he was on his feet, knife in hand and at the throat of his intruder as he blinked the sleep from his eyes, looking into the dark chocolate orbs of the still half asleep redhead he was currently pinning to the bed. Recognizing her almost instantly, in mere seconds he had her arms restrained and was holding her against the wall, face first, as he flashed through a brief restraining jutsu, slamming his palms into the wood below him an watching as chains made of earth sprouted from the ground and encircled the former Oto-kunoichi.

"Tayuya. I'm only going to ask this one time because I'm a nice guy, and then I'm knocking your little ass out and returning you to your cell. How did you get out and why the fuck are you here? Better question, how did you even _find_ here?" The blonde questioned, his hands already a blur painting out the kanji for the various seals he was creating that would both detain, silence, and subdue the woman who had intruded into his home.

Tayuya, who by this point was very much awake began quickly stammering out an explanation to her currently now two-time captor. "Naruto? Holy fuck relax! I was told to come here by your old fuck of a Kage after he made a probationary shinobi, Shithead! Kami if you slap me with a seal I swear I'll rip your fuckin' balls off and let you bleed to death!" The blonde paused in his writing, listening to the redheaded kunoichi deliver his explanation before he noticed a still sealed scroll bearing the Hokage's personal seal lying on the floor. Figuring that he had probably knocked it over in his brief scuffle with the woman, he quickly broke the seal, before quickly reading its comments, looking up and narrowing his eyes soon after completing his task.

"I…see. Apparently the Hokage neglected to tell me this when I met with him earlier." The blonde stated as he discarded of the paper he had been writing out his kanji on, before releasing the jutsu that had held Tayuya in place. "So, why the hell are you in my house? And how did you get it? I have seals all over the damn place to prevent things like this from happening!" Naruto finished, sitting down on his bed, and for the first time noticing the girl's state of dress, or rather, undress he mused.

Undress would be the more apt of the two terms, as currently the fair skinned girl was dressed in nothing more than one of Naruto's large black t-shirts complete with the Uzumaki spiral on the front, and a pair of her own panties, though the shirt did a very admirable job of covering them up. However, it did nothing to cover the young woman's long, slender legs, and it was then that Naruto noticed she wasn't wearing her usual battle headband that bore the Oto symbol, instead allowing her long red hair to fall down upon and past her shoulders, rolling and flowing down to the small of her back as she turned to face him, folding her arms under her bust and glaring at him.

"Listen Shithead, cut it with the third degree. _Hokage-Sama…_ "Tayuya started, saying the title of her new village leader with as much sarcasm as she could muster, "granted me probationary status as a shinobi of Konoha under supervision of one of the Ninja of the village. As the one who brought me to this shithole you call a village, he decided that you would be the one who would look after me, especially since I already knew you worked with the ANBU. The old bastard even put this piece of shit seal on me, so that if go beyond the walls of the village my heart will stop or some shit." The woman eloquently finished, lifting her arm to show the blonde her inner arm, revealing the small circular shaped image filled with kanji neatly drawn there. "As for how I got here… well some guy with a Falcon mask came here with me, told me I was to stay here, and then drew a bunch of shit on the ground telling me it was safe to go inside."

Naruto briefly got up and looked at the seal on her arm, and after cross-referencing it with the letter he had been written by the Hokage himself, deemed hers to be true. Saying nothing else, the Uzumaki heir wordlessly created five clones who immediately left the room to move to their assigned task of resealing and improving the seals upon his house, as the original simply stripped out of his bloodied ANBU armor, and after giving Tayuya a brief view of his muscular back, grabbing a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and a towel as he walked towards the bathroom, intent on getting rid of the blood and grime that still covered him with a quick shower.

It didn't take long for the young man to rise off and cleanse himself of the aftereffects of his latest mission, before half dressing himself in the pants he had grabbed before, walking back into his bedroom while drying his sandy blonde hair, half expecting the newest tenant of his house to have moved on to another part of the moderately sized house. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your outlook, the lightly clothed redhead was still on his bed, curled around the only pillow on the bed, fast asleep, her ample chest rising and falling with her every breath.

Sighing softly to himself, the blonde ran his fingers through his damp hair, absentmindedly dropping the towel he had been using onto the back of a nearby chair. He walked over to near the head of the bed, where Tayuya was sleeping peacefully gazing down at her sleeping form, before smiling and unceremoniously pulling the pillow she had been curled around out from underneath her head, waking the girl up in the process.

"Hey Shithead, what the fuck? I was using that." The chocolate eyed girl glared up at the young man standing over her, only briefly allowing her eyes to roam over his distinguished upper boy, and after a valiant but futile attempt to hold back the blush that crossed her face, attempted to sit up before he roughly pushed her back down and leaned in close, getting up in her face and glaring back just as strongly.

"Listen to me, and listen well, Tayuya. This is _my_ house, regardless of what the Hokage or anyone else says. Everything in this house, belongs to _me._ That includes _my_ pillow. Clear?" The blonde questioned, though his tone made it absolutely clear that it was a statement, moving around to the opposite side of the bed, laying the pillow down and with the last of his strength remaining from his long and hard fought mission, plopped down onto the bed itself, head falling almost dead center on the pillow he had reclaimed from his newest roommate. He had only lain there for a few minutes when he felt the somewhat familiar weight of a head laid on his chest, and cracking an eyelid he was greeted with the sight of Tayuya's flowing red hair falling across his body, her left hand coming to rest in the center of his chest, just below the girls mouth.

"Tayuya?" Naruto briefly questioned, not exactly minding the new development, but not filled with enough energy to fight back against it, either.

"Shut up, Shithead. I'm tired, and you took the pillow, remember? So now, I have to make do with whatever the fuck I can. Also, this is the only Goddamn bed in the house and I'm not gonna be the one sleeping on the fuckin' couch."

He had to admit, her logic did make sense.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **And that brings us to the end of this chapter! Before people start raging over Naruto defeating Sasori somewhat easily, you gotta** ** _look underneath the underneath_** **, Sasori was out of his element, fighting atop the ocean in his puppets for one thing, another large fact being that he had no knowledge of who Naruto was, and as such caused him to drastically underestimate his opponent. The biggest factor in the fight was luck though, in Naruto's final counter attack, his double Odama Rasengan** ** _happened_** **to hit and destroy the container in Sasori's chest. Naruto knows the fight was won off luck, as he is only an A-ranked shinobi at best, and he had nearly every single advantage over his opponent, who was an S-ranked missing Nin. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	9. Why We Fight

**Welcome back to another exciting episo- I mean chapter, of 'Immortalized'! I don't really have a lot to say here, other than I'm loving the feedback I'm getting from you guys, and I hope I keep doing a good enough job to keep up the positive feedback. Anyways, on to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Why We Fight**

* * *

Lynx sat in the middle of the ANBU training ground designated as 'Beta', sitting cross-legged in the middle of the small pond that lie in the Northwestern quadrant of the field. The Captain of the Seventh Division was currently working on training his third affinity; water. It was well known that in Konoha that to qualify as a Jounin, you had to have obtained mastery over two elements, making the feat fairly common among Konoha-born shinobi while only moderately likely in many of the other countries.

So Lynx sat in the pond, attempting to hone his third affinity through sheer Kage Bunshin training, as he had done for his wind, and then fire affinity. He idly thought back to all the time he had spent having clones cut and then burn leaves, split homemade waterfalls, and setting ablaze drenched ropes as he sat in the water, concentrating on forming a mass of water that would rise him above the normal surface of the water, almost as if sitting upon a pillar. He briefly made it a few inches into the air, before the liquid pillar wavered slightly before collapsing in on itself, sending the ANBU Captain crashing down towards the water, who deftly caught himself by generously channeling chakra to his legs and rear.

Grunting angrily, Lynx stood up and walked over to the bank, dusting himself off as he did so, before turning back and watching his clones go through the same exercise. This was going much slower that his other two affinities had gone, with him training in wind for a mere three months before he attained full mastery of his element, and then for six months as he honed his affinity with fire. If the pattern continued, he would be training in water for the next nine months, bringing the total for his dedicated training of Suiton to a full year, at the least.

He had been initially excited and quite pleased with himself when he finished training his Katon to perfection, deciding to pick Suiton to train himself further in as he had no further natural affinities. He was at first hopeful, having passed through the first step easily, though it was just making water move around and into various shapes through sheer chakra manipulation. This second step was destroying him, though, frustrating him to no end. He wished he could say he had nothing but time to work on this new element, be time was actually something her felt he was going to be short of rather soon.

Lynx wasn't by any means a strategic genius. He was however, a tactical prodigy. While engaged in combat with an enemy he could figure them out by merely a crossing on blades one singular time, and was able to plan around his opponents attacks, setting up massive and destructive counterattacks that could decimate entire groups of enemies, and now, coupled with his very recent mastery of the Hiraishin, he was truly a force to be reckoned with.

This is what was troubling him, though. Lynx knew he was strong, especially for his age. And as strong as he was, when he crossed blades with Sasori some months prior, he had been completely outclassed. For as strong as he was, the now deceased puppeteer would have completely destroyed him without a second thought had they been in any other landscape. Lynx had known that Sasori was toying with him the entire time, even though he was going all out of the man, especially at the end. He knew he could only attribute his victory over the ex-Suna ninja to his constant underestimation of him, to surprise in his final attack, and to no small amount of sheer luck. Upon his return to Konoha and his speedy recovery from whatever toxin Sasori had managed to inject him with, Lynx had personally oversaw the unsealing of the man's two other scrolls he had kept on his back, thanking whatever deity had smiled on him that day as he looked upon the hundred puppets.

Lynx had gotten lucky, was underestimated, and held nearly every advantage he could have possibly asked for against the missing-nin, and he still only just barely walked away with his life. He wasn't strong enough to stop his enemies, and that sincerely bothered him. He was an ANBU Captain for Kami's sake! He was supposed to be second to only the Hokage himself, and here he was, facing down an enemy he had every advantage over, and he won because his enemy didn't bother to take him seriously. So upon his return and recovery, Lynx had thrown his personal training into overdrive.

Some days he would take on multiple members of his division, often sending the men and women to the infirmary in terrible condition. Other days he would spend solely practicing one of the various Ninja arts, going to far as to have one of the Genjutsu specialists in his squad put him under illusion after illusion, breaking himself out by any means necessary. The one thing that was a constant in every day of his training though was that every morning, after untangling himself from the mass of blood-red hair that would cover his chest, and performing a quick substitution with the pillow to keep the woman satisfied, Lynx would create a small army on Kage Bunshin, having them all work on various tasks, speeding his training along faster than his already accelerated rate.

In truth, others had started to notice the young Captains absurd rate of growth, and near obsession with getting stronger. However, none of the other members of the Seventh Division dared question their Captain. He had given them no reason before to question him, having led the division with distinction and honor, never asking something of one of the men under his command that he himself wasn't willing to do. Lynx was a truly respected and well-liked leader, and because of that no one would question him when he suddenly kicked everything he did into overdrive, training himself to near exhaustion every day he wasn't out on a mission, returning to his home late at night and leaving a couple hours before the sun even began to rise.

Even his somewhat unwanted 'roommate' Tayuya had come to begin to worry over the blonde shinobi that had become a very large and important part of her life, though she would never admit it to herself, let alone anyone else. However, any time she tried to bring up the young man's near excessive regimen, he either brushed her off with a wave of his hand telling her not to worry about him, and that he knew what he was doing. In reality, Tayuya was concerned for him, worried that he would burn himself out sooner rather than later. She knew that her 'babysitter-turned-friend' was strong, but the fact that he thought of himself as so _weak_ was appalling, to say the least.

It was a weird position for the redhead to be in, having only ever been in the position to care for one other person, and that was in a strictly platonic manner. The foul mouthed kunoichi was perplexed by the emotions she had been having, and they all seemed to center around the enigma that was her electric blue eyed tenant. Over the last several months that she had been living with and spending time with him, she had found herself growing rather close to him. This feeling only was enhanced as she was allowed to start going on light missions, rated as a Chunin of her new home. Every time she had gone out of the village it seemed, she couldn't wait to return and tell him about it.

Tayuya tried to play it off as missing the house, missing the monotony of being able to laze around, anything to deny what she knew in her heart of hearts. In all honesty, the woman was scared to get close to anyone, and coming from Otogakure, under the sadistic rule of the estranged Snake Sannin, it was to be expected. The man was cruel, and was known to play on the emotions of his subordinates, so to protect themselves, many who followed the man attempted to block off their emotions, not allowing themselves to become close to other in fear of it turning on them.

But here, in Konoha, Tayuya had slowly found her mental walls slowly broken down as time passed. Sure, Naruto had initially been her enemy, but afterwards he had shown her nothing but kindness, even allowing her to share his bed, and not even once trying to induce anything other than friendly conversation. It was terrifying to the redheaded Genjutsu expert, being filled with this multitude of feelings for a man was all new to her. Imagine her surprise, when on one random day he had come home after training himself ragged, and she realized for the first time she was actually concerned for him! Him, of all people who she should have been loathing more than any other for her capture.

The blonde shinobi was an enigma to Tayuya, one that she was both thrilled and frightened to begin trying to understand.

The Sandaime Hokage was looking over reports…again. It seemed as if that was all he did these days, and briefly he thought back to the time before he had been chosen for the position, back when the position was still filled with a certain aura of mystery, power, and excitement. Had he had any idea of what the position had actually entailed, that being ninety-nine percent paper and administrative work, with the other one percent being action that actively required the intervention of a Hokage, he might have been less inclined to take the position, and may have even let the old war hawk Shimura Danzo run the whole show, instead of just his ANBU division.

Even the ageing Hokage had to admit, that while the man may have had some twisted methods, he did a very good job of running and managing the ANBU Corps. The man could recover, too. He had bounced back rather well after his ROOT program had been abolished by the Sandaime, hardly putting up a fight after he had released all of the specially trained ANBU. Yes, Sarutobi Hiruzen, while not always seeing eye to-well, eye, he supposed, did have a begrudging respect for the man.

He pulled himself slowly from his musings, there was no point in wondering what might have been, and he was too old and too set in his ways to really change now, not that it would change anything. He didn't even personally believe he had many more years in him as the Hokage, after all he had been doing it for so many years both before and after the death of Namikaze Minato that he had lost count. He cursed lightly under his breath, these were supposed to be his twilight years, dammit, lived out in the comfort of home and surrounded by family, but he supposed he was a victim of circumstance.

That train of thought set him back on the path of the report he was currently reading, an easy, pretty cut and dry escort mission through Fire Country. Normally, he wouldn't be too concerned with such a minor report, but this team had a singular member that he had chosen to keep a personal eye on, that being the redheaded and foul mouthed kunoichi, Tayuya.

The woman had been an etched slate when she first arrived in Konoha, constantly spouting off about how her teammates and 'Orochimaru-Sama' (Hiruzen coughed lightly at that) would come save her, but after a short three month stay in the cell block, and with only light interrogation tactics being used, she had gradually come to realize that Orochimaru wouldn't be coming for her, and unfortunately for the girl, it almost seemed to crush her as she realized that she was alone in a foreign land. So he had sent in Naruto, and in a rare moment of brilliance that could be confused easily with breach of protocol, had ordered the man to remove his mask to her.

It had been a slippery slope from there, as Hiruzen slowly guided the woman out of the prison lifestyle and gave her a new life in Konoha, one where she was welcomed, an her presence was even enjoyed, a sure step up from her life in Oto. And then Naruto, albeit though he had his arm twisted into it, had taken the woman in, and the two began forming a strong bond together.

True, the woman had seemed to do a complete one-eighty, and she appeared to be enjoying her life in Konohagakure, and it wasn't long before (under Naruto's personal recommendation) she had been instated as a full Kunoichi of the Leaf, and began running missions in their name. As Hiruzen closed the report, noting with mild satisfaction that it was successful, he sent for Tayuya, deciding it was time to end her probationary status.

Naruto waked down the streets of Konoha, for the first time in a long time, not wearing the ANBU armor that had become like a second skin to him, and without the mask that usually covered his face. As he walked down the street in his usual shinobi attire, minus the katana he had come to carry nearly every day, he looked down to the woman that was currently walking alongside him, listening to her current retelling of something that had happened on one of her more recent missions, and smiling genuinely.

"…And then the lazy bastard that is Shikamaru looks up at the rest of us and goes, 'This it too troublesome to deal with. I'm going cloud watching.', and the best fuckin part? The smoking fucker just lets him go! Doesn't say a goddamn word!" The former Oto-nin finished, looking over her shoulder and meeting the eyes of her now closer friend expectantly. The blonde just laughed, placing both of his hands behind his head and chuckling softly as he led the way for the redhead, speaking softly, but no less firmly than he normally did.

"Yeah, that sounds like Shikamaru, all right. You know, he and I were in the academy together before I was drafted." The taller shinobi followed on to her story, stopping her as they found themselves in front of a small, unassuming ramen stand. Tayuya looked quite skeptical about the place, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as she was quickly pushed/pulled inside by the now slightly hyperactive blonde. "Come on, Tayuya, we're here. Time to show you why this is the best stand in Konoha…" the bond trailed off as he pulled her down onto a booth next to her, a small, unassuming woman walking up to take their order.

The redheaded woman found herself generally enjoying the atmosphere of the stand, which she had leaded was call 'Ichiraku's', and was surprised at first to find herself with tears in her eyes more than once, laughing at the stories their waiter Ayame told her about the clueless blonde's youth. She even found herself laughing alongside the blonde as more often than not, instead of being embarrassed over the situation, he would join in, readily making jokes at the expense of himself.

After the two had finished their ramen, Naruto and Ayame quietly excused themselves, both people blushing furiously amid Ayame's and her father's peals of laughter when they had "wished the young couple goodnight", while they tried to hide it from each other. Glancing once more at the girl he had taken out to celebrate her newly announced citizenship, he decided it was time for their final stop of the night. He stopped in his tracks a few paces outside of the ramen stand, and after the woman came to a halt as well, she turned and looked at him, walking back towards the frozen blonde with a questioning look in her eye. He spoke softly, but this time there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice, if only for a split second. "Tayuya, do you trust me?"

The typically hot-blooded woman stopped in her tracks, looking up at the wavering steely blue eyes that she'd come to know were filled with compassion and kindness over the last several months, taking in the visage of the man who had become her caretaker when she had come to Konoha, and who had quite literally, bent over backwards to make her stay comfortable, while still maintaining his own harsh regimen. "Yeah, Shithead…" she teased at him, calling him by the nickname she had taken to calling him, at first to irritate him, and now out of….something else. "…you know I do."

"Then hold on." That was the redhead's only warning as he took a step forward, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close to him, allowing her only a brief moment of surprise as they both disappeared from in front of the ramen stand in a flash of deep, midnight blue. The foul mouthed aspect of the kunoichi made a return for the first time in several minutes as the couple reappeared on the top of the Hokage monument, still holding onto the very surprised, and blushing furiously woman in his arms as she attempted to curse him to no end for surprising her like that.

Surprising her yet again, Naruto simply ignored her rant, waiting for her to calm down as he turned his back on her, walking towards the edge of the monument itself, before leaning down and taking a seat on the top of the Yondaime's head. Tayuya, for her part, at least had the humility to look slightly ashamed as she slowly ceased her cursing, walking over and sitting down next to the blonde shinobi, her breath hitching in her throat as she overlooked her new village at night. To say it was beautiful was an understatement, and in the many months that she had known the young ANBU Captain, she would never have pegged him as one to enjoy taking in the sights like this.

The young couple sat in silence for several minutes, simply taking in the sights, with Tayuya unconsciously scooting closer to the blonde and the natural body heat he seemed to radiate. "Of all the places in the village, this one is my favorite. I used to come up here all the time when I was younger, before I knew where I belonged, before I had friends, and I would just sit up here and talk with the Hokage's like they were here with me. I'd ask questions, tell stories, and although I never got an answer, I would always leave feeling better, like they had actually listened to me when no one else would. This village…it's special to me, Tayuya. Not because of the buildings or the sights, but because of the bonds that I've formed with so many of the people who live here."

Naruto paused, momentarily, as he blinked his eyes, their electric blue nature somehow only becoming more enhanced in the moonlight as Tayuya looked at him in abject wonder, her eyes wide as he regaled her in tales of his upbringing, the beatings he endured, and finally, his rescue by Jiraiya before his return. The blonde laughed, before turning his head towards the woman at his side, and continuing, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't let your past experiences define you. You can have a life, and a good one at that here, all you have to do is give us a chance. And here…" He paused, pulling a small box out from inside one of the many pockets before handing it to Tayuya, watching her expectantly. "…is a gesture of goodwill from me, and by proxy the village, to you. I had it reforged to the exact same way it was before I, well you know, destroyed it."

If Tayuya hadn't been so shocked by the small box in her hands and the words he had said, she might have shed a tear or two at the thought of the blonde haired shinobi being so thoughtful, that he had gone through the trouble of fixing her weapon of choice. As she pulled her gaze from that of the grinning ANBU Captain and down to the box in her hands, she still couldn't quite believe it. She had only just begun to slowly open the wooden case when there was a large just of wind behind the two, followed by a gruff "Taichou".

And just like that, gone was the face of the blonde knucklehead that she had come to know and whether she would admit it to herself or not, grown quite attached to, and in a small puff of smoke his trademark Lynx themed mask was in his hand and placed around his head, his eyes becoming the cold, steel blue instead of the bright and lively ones that had been there a moment before. She watched in mild fascination at the transformation of the man happened before her eyes, in mere seconds standing before her the respected and feared Captain Lynx who had turned and spoke to the Boar masked ANBU Operative standing off to the side, looking on in mild satisfaction as he disappeared in a shunshin.

Lynx turned back to the redheaded woman he had been enjoying one of his few nights off with before he sighed to himself, walking towards her and kneeling down to get on her level, already knowing she wasn't going to like this. "I'm sorry…" he began, leaning back towards the edge of the cliff, beginning to tilt over the edge, before resuming speaking in his clipped, metallic tone that defined the use of his mask. "…Duty calls." The blonde haired shinobi finished, lifting his hand off of hers, and falling back over the edge of the Hokage Monument, flashing away as soon as he was over the side, so when Tayuya looked down, she saw nothing but the streets below.

Frowning to herself, the kunoichi who had sworn that she would never get attached to anyone other than her special connection in Oto remembered the box in her hands, looking down and opening it fully, and softly gasping, even though Naruto had practically told her what was inside. Inside of the case, laid upon a soft blanket of velvet, was an exact replica of the flute she had thought completely obliterated when she fought her last battle in Orochimaru's name. She didn't even notice the tear that fell down her cheek as she held it in her hands, but she did take not of the way her heart had fluttered when she held the small piece of metal in her hands, and blew upon it gently, a soft and comforting tune leaving the end of the musical instrument.

'Damn you, Shithead.'

* * *

Lynx sped across the rooftops of Konoha, his division spread thin across their sector of the village, the ever present guardians of Konohagakure on high alert after the emergency briefing they had received from their Captain, and his orders coming directly from the Hokage himself. It was rare to see the ANBU out in force like this and even though there were many of them flashing and speeding through the village and out into the forest beyond, there weren't enough of them, not nearly enough to cover every single nook and cranny of the village. That isn't to say that they weren't doing their damndest, though, and even Lynx himself had a massive horde or Kage Bunshin that had taken to the streets, aiding in the massive search for the traitor in their midst.

It had come from one of the most likely places, yet at the same time, from the last place many would have ever suspected. Shimura Danzo was defecting. In a motive that wasn't quite clear, and with a method that was still largely unknown, the old and seemingly crippled man had broken into the Hokage's vault, and stolen the summoning scroll that contained the Sanbi that Lynx and his team had captured nearly a year prior. Lynx grit his teeth behind his mask. He had no idea why the man would do something like this, and he honestly didn't give a damn. All he needed were his orders, and he had them. Lynx was pissed enough about his night being cut short, so this was bound to get ugly.

Lynx sped through the trees before he stopped, flashing in mid-step to the Hiraishin formula that one of his clones had placed on a tree before being forcefully dispelled, arriving in the exact spot his clone had been, before performing the most rapid series of shunshin in his life, narrowly avoiding the hail of beetles that clouded the area he had been mere seconds before, before he flashed into existence in front of the fleeing trio, led by none other than Danzo himself. Lynx cocked his head to the side, before speaking in the short clipped tone that was the trademark of the ANBU masks.

"Shimura Danzo. A-Ranked Nuke-Nin of Konohagakure no Sato. Wanted for murder of fellow Leaf shinobi, theft, breaking and entering of the Hokage's vault, and treason. You have been tried and judged by the Hokage, your sentence is death." Lynx spoke candidly, as if he were telling the one eyed man the day's weather, as he drew his sword from his back, a Hiraishin kunai falling into his left hand as he fell into a stance. "Surrender now, and I will make it quick and painless."

Danzo stood still, the summoning scroll on his back as he fixed the man in front of him with his ever present condescending glare. As Lynx stood there, facing down the man he was suddenly very compelled to let the man simply leave, being filled with the promise that Danzo's actions were for the greater good. He slowly and shakily dropped to one knee, falling into a modified kneel in front of the three wayward shinobi, his head, as hard as his mind fought against itself, falling forward in a full bow of submission. "Lord Danzo…you are…free to go…." Lynx coughed out, his body shaking.

Danzo merely grinned, his Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods) technique working perfectly on the young man who, despite being quite powerful, had no talent to fight back against such a high level Genjutsu. He and he two bodyguards walked past the kneeling Captain Lynx, who still knelt on the ground, but right as they prepared to take to the trees a kunai sailed angrily through the air, Danzo dodging the knife at the last second, though the subsequent blue flash was too quick for him, and the spinning heel kick caught him full in the shoulder, sending him skidding to the side as his bodyguards moved to intercept the back on his feet and spun into a dimension of pissed off he had never been before in his short life, Lynx.

"You didn't let me finish my sentence, _Lord Danzo_ …"The mask clad shinobi practically spat the title at the man, who was recovering and moving to stand on his feet. "You are free to go to Hell!" Lynx stated, coldly, his steel blue eyes narrowing behind his mask as he blocked the tanto the slashed at his side with his own sword, jumping over the tandem strike that came from behind him at his lower body. The blonde shinobi pivoted in midair, lashing out with his foot, and catching the black haired guard in the side of the face, his body shimmering lightly before dispersing into the multitude of kikaichu that moved to latch onto the Lynx's foot, though he was able to deftly dodge by flashing to his kunai which was still embedded in the nearby tree.

Seeing what he believed to be his opening, Danzo made a jump for the trees, not anticipating Lynx to flash to Hiraishin he had unknowingly placed on Danzo's shoulder from his earlier attack, an already charged Rasengan spiraling into life in his outstretched hand as he forced it into the War Hawks abdomen, watching with satisfaction as the man crumpled to the dirt below, Lynx landing with his back to him, already re-engaged into combat with the other two members that were attempting to desert the village. He dodged a blow coming from the red haired man on his left, moving to counterattack with his sword in a spinning upwards strike that would have caught the man in the chin had he not been forced to curb his blade into deflecting the tanto strike of the strangely dress guard on his right, catching it in the cross guard, and completely unprepared for the voice he heard behind him.

The voice of the presumed dead Shimura Danzo boomed to his rear, the ANBU Captain barely able to perform a substitution in time. "Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!)", the compressed blast of air destroyed the log and the following trees behind it as it smashed through them. Danzo didn't have time to lament on this though, as Lynx had jumped high into the air, using chakra to boost his leap, and throwing out a rain of tri-pronged kunai, before calling out the name of his jutsu is his ever present metallic voice, his hands a blur of seals.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shuriken Shadow Clones!), Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)" Lynx shouted, the various kunai being accelerated beyond their already impressive velocity as they multiplied from some twenty odd blades to over sixty, littering the area in the familiar blades of the Yondaime Hokage, Danzo's visible eye going wide in the process, as he began the process of channeling his chakra for another one of his miracle jutsu. It was as the Shimura heir's chakra spiked, and Lynx fell from the from the sky that he noticed the man's mangled right arm, released from the bandages that had been concealing it for as long as he knew.

Wasting no more time attempting to figure it out, Lynx opted for his tried and true think-on-the-fly method, flashing in between several of the kunai on the ground before reappearing behind Danzo, his hands already finished flashing through seals as he built his chakra and forced both of his hands out in front of him, mere inches from Danzo's back. "Fūton: Fuujin Seiken!" (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!).

Danzo had no time to react as he was impacted directly on his spine by what felt like a gigantic fist slamming into him, throwing him across the clearing, wrecking several trees in the process. Naruto landed on the ground, and watched in clear surprise as Danzo laid upon the ground for a moment, his spine splinted and his intestines hanging out along the ground, before he blinked, and then the Shimura traitor was on his feet, rushing in to engage the blonde in three-on-one combat with his two subordinates, the damage he had sustained having been undone. Lynx grit his teeth as he took a hit in the small of his back, seallessly creating three Kage Bunshin to cover him as he flashed through hand seals again before sinking into the ground, calling the name of the jutsu as he moved. "Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Jutsu!).

The three turncoat shinobi made short work of the clones, and were about to move to escape when four large walls of purple flame appeared at the edges of the clearing, and Lynx himself appeared from under the ground uppercutting the short, black haired shinobi in the jaw, calling out "Ninpo: Shishienjin! (Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!) Engaging in a brief Taijutsu match against the taller red haired man, his Hachidori (Hummingbird) style proving too much for the man, forcing him to fall back. Lynx jumped back from his opponents, now that he had them cornered, he could take all the time he needed. It had taken his clones longer than expected to disperse unseen and unheard to the four corners of the area, and then longer for them to set up the barrier technique.

Lynx allowed himself a small pat on the back for his genius in sealing, before thanking his heritage for the absolutely gargantuan chakra supply he had. While normally this particular barrier required four separate people to hold the technique, Lynx had discovered a way to keep it going through mere clones. He had taken a rough chakra sealing matrix and modified it to be able to store and release chakra instead, and after having his clones perform the barrier sealing formation, he had them pull their chakra directly from the scrolls, which he had been storing for weeks for just an occasion like this, give him access to a trapping method that halted an enemies escape, and only drawback was the three minute setup time required.

Lynx stepped back, watching in mild amusement as one of the three traitors moved to touch the barrier recoiling before he was able to make contact from the heat. He evaluated his options. He had already 'killed' Danzo twice, and though it annoyed him, he couldn't figure out how the man kept returning from mortal wounds. It didn't matter though, he would kill him again and again until he stopped coming. But first, he needed to take care of the man's support, they were getting in the way. Lynx smiled to himself under his mask, the beginnings of a plan forming in the tactical genius's mind. He would have to be careful though, he couldn't risk the destruction of the scroll, so his first priority was to get it away from Danzo, and then he could really go all out.

Lynx stepped forward, his hands already a blur of hand seals as he flashed out of existence, disappearing and reappearing between multiple kunai before appearing directly in the center of the three men, them already recoiling or moving to counter attack as he slammed his palm into the ground. _"_ Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!) Watching in satisfaction as the three turncoats moved to dodge the multitude of lightning strikes that flashed out from his hand in all directions, before he turned to the airborne form of the shorter of the two guards, disappearing in a shunshin, and then reappearing to the left of him, his sword already poised like a spear, which the man took in the shoulder, effectively turning the man's body towards Lynx, as the Captain brought a Rasengan to bear directly into the man's chest, caving in the man's ribcage and reducing his organs to much, before launching him off of the blondes fist and into the barrier itself, burning to death whatever was left of the man in the violent indigo inferno.

Lynx had barely touched foot on the ground before he was caught in a powerful combination jutsu from the two remaining members of the attempted escapee's. Danzo had finished flashing through his seals and called out "Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!)", while his partner finished and practically screamed "Katon: Gōkakyū no _Jutsu!_ (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!). The two techniques combined blasted the area Lynx had been, and for a moment, the two assailants believed they may have done it, before a battered Lynx appeared behind Danzo, grabbing the scroll and flashing away, disappearing from view, before he returned to their view, but this time only for a moment, flashing to the kunai at the side of Danzo's only remaining guard, moving in for the decapitating strike.

Only to have it blocked by the man's tanto, before the 'Lynx' looked at the man dead in the eye, before uttering a single word. "Boom." Right as it exploded Danzo leapt back, looking for his opponent desperately, before he watched his subordinate fly across the clearing, and stared on watching he could do nothing as Lynx flashed to the spot where the man would land, holding Kaze no Karitoriki out like a pike, and impaling the man straight through the heart as the unnamed man flew into his blade. He had maintained eye contact with Danzo through his half shattered mask the whole time.

It was then that the lone Shimura was able to get a good look at the blonde haired ANBU, and he noticed that the man was definitely looking worse for wear. His mask had been shattered, leaving a jagged cut down the center of the mask that exposed half of his face to the word, blood seeping from several wounds on his face alone, his hair matted down with the sweat and blood of the battle so far. The blondes ANBU armor was no longer pristine, and had borne the brunt of the damage from the crushing wind enhanced fire jutsu sustained earlier, missing bits and pieces of all over, the edges no longer smooth, now being jagged and unrefined. He was even missing the entirety of his left arm guard, but the thing that Danzo was focused on were the blonde's eyes.

He was fighting like a man possessed, and though the war hawk was able to get his arm up in time to block the sword strike, he was unable to dodge to the side as the man flashed around him in a flurry of Hiraishin kunai, stabbing a kunai inside the man several times, before flashing a distance away, watching the paper bombs he had attached to the various kunai explode in a beautiful fireball. And then he rolled his eyes as once again, the damage he had done to Danzo was undone, the man standing up on his feet once again to face him, grinning like a madman. "How many times am I going to have to put you down…?" He wondered to himself as he flashed forward, flashing around the man in a flurry of movement that was almost impossible to track, slashing with his sword before appearing above the man, throwing his sword into the man's brain, letting it lodge there as he landed once again a distance away.

As once again the Lone Traitor stood, Lynx assessed his situation. He was going to lose if this kept up. He still wasn't as proficient with the Hiraishin as he needed to be, and he was taking damage from Danzo every time he killed him, be it a chakra enhanced punch, or a swipe with a kunai, or even a well-placed jutsu, even with his healing factor he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. Lynx was so focused on killing the turncoat that he hadn't even noticed the crowd of ANBU that had formed around the barrier, with the Hokage himself in attendance. Lynx grit his teeth. He needed to end this, whatever it took.

He flashed back under the guard of Danzo, spearing his hand right through the man's heart, his fingers extended and joined in a knife hand, his fingers easily piercing the man's flesh as he coated them in the virulent wind chakra. As Danzo died yet again, Lynx now visibly winced as the falling Shimura stabbed a large kunai into the man's stomach, piercing his armor and wounding him gravely, as he flashed away, watching as, for the sixth time that night, Danzo stood up, shaking off the damage he had sustained, and that's when Lynx finally noticed it. One of the symbols on Danzo's arm… it was an eye! The man had eyes implanted in his arm, and six of them were now closed, leaving four open.

"What the fuck did you do to yourself, you senile old fool…" Lynx questioned, more to himself than anyone else as he formed one last plan in his mind. Maybe if he could sever the arm from the now clearly insane man, it would stop his ability to regenerate? Or if not, he'd kill him until he stopped coming back. Lynx steeled his gaze on the laughing man, watching as he threw his head back and roared, having clearly lost his mind, from the trauma of dying six times in rapid succession, if he had to guess, before Lynx began flashing around the man again, making two Kage Bunshin as he did so who also began moving a rapid speed around the man, seeing as how a clone couldn't flash through the Hiraishin.

All movement rapidly stopped as the two clones appeared on either side of the man, latching onto his arms and holding him wide as Lynx activated the seals on his either one of his wrists, unsealing a large Fuuma Shuriken in each hand, launching them towards the man, flashing through hand signs before exploding a large gust of wind from within, shouting out _"_ Fūton: Reppūshō! (Wind Style: Gale Palm!) Boosting the two windmill blades towards the pinned man, severing both his head and his arm in a single stroke. Lynx stood behind the man, watching as he fell, and then in the next instant was on his feet screaming towards him, moving with a vengeance as he dropped a kunai into each hand, not even bothering to attempt any jutsu any more, his mind so far gone as to lose any semblance of reason.

Lynx, once again on the defensive, leapt back, two clones popping into existence next to him, each one blurring through hand seals, finishing one at a time, one right after the other, and all locked on the ragdolling form of Danzo Shimura. "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō! (Earth Release, Seismic Upheaval!)", "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)", "Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!)". The two clones he had summoned popped out of existence before they even hit the ground, Lynx himself falling to one knee as he watched the effects of his jutsu take place.

First, Danzo rushed straight into the flame bullet of the dragon, being incinerated from the inside out as he fell, before once again rising to his feet, flames still licking at what remained of his clothing as the ground below him imploded, send fragments of rock and stone everywhere, and pummeling the man into oblivion, before once again, the man stood, turning to face the kneeling Lynx as the multiple blades of his wind jutsu cut the man to literal ribbons his arms flying off of his body, completely separated, and his forehead sheared clean off. Lynx didn't dare close his eyes, not once believing that it was over, and he swore loudly as once again, he blinked and the damage to Danzo was undone.

The two men stood on opposite ends of the obliterated field, staring down at each other, before the mad beast that had been Shimura Danzo let out a blood curdling scream, charging at Lynx head first, mouth agape and frothing. The wounded and kneeling Lynx was at his end, he was holding on now to the last bits of his consciousness, so he knew this was it. The barrier he knew, would fall as soon as he was knocked unconscious, so he could only hope that someone else could put the beast down if his final attack failed. As the insane and lost man charged him, Lynx stood shakily to his feet, his shattered mask falling from his face as he produced eight kunai, four in-between the digits of each hand, crossing them over his body before letting them fly, instantly dropping to a knee again in pain, holding his right hand out in front of him and beginning to for a Rasengan.

The kunai he had thrown flew true, flying to either side of the feral man, impacting the ground on either side of him, the strong and durable ninja wire tied between them holding the man back briefly, before snapping as he once again began his crazy charge at the young Captain. Lynx stood his ground, the Rasengan in his hand sprouting four large blades of chakra on all ends of it, reminiscent of the windmill shuriken he was so fond of. He held the jutsu behind him, and began a sprint of his own towards the lone man, bringing the large chakra construct to bear in front of him, contacting with the crazed man as he called out the technique in a soft, broken voice, his world going briefly white.

"Futon: RasenShuriken! (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken!) When the dust cleared, Lynx was on his knees, his right arm looking as though it had just been ran through a meat grinder, all of the armor and clothing upon it disintegrated during his attack. He knelt a mere three feet from the fallen form of Shimura Danzo, if one could still call him that. His still bleeding corpse was so thoroughly destroyed that it would be hard to identify the body if you hadn't been watching the fight. Lynx waited, and he watched, and this time, Shimura Danzo did not rise. Laughing lightly to himself, Lynx allowed a smile to grace his lips as he fell forwards onto his face, the purple barrier around him falling, his consciousness slipping through his fingers as he desperately tried to hold onto it. He was aware of two things as he slipped into the blissful unknown, one was of the ANBU and the Hokage keeling around his body, calling for a medic, and the other, the other was something he didn't like at all.

His last memory was of a strange man wearing an orange spiral mask, dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds he had seen before on his mission to Water Country, taking the Sanbi's scroll from his dispersing clone.

With this last vision, Lynx passed out.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over the sleeping body of his ANBU Captain, Lynx. The teen had taken an absurd amount of damage during the long, drawn out battle, and unfortunately he had been able to do nothing to help aid the young man in his fight. He sighed, the young man was as stubborn as his father, and twice the fighter, if what he had witnessed the earlier night was anything to go off. The Sandaime had arrived on the scene soon after Lynx had dispatched with the first of his the enemies, all of which were easily A-Rank, if you didn't take into account that Danzo had somehow resurrected himself not once, but a total of eleven times during his battle with the young captain.

Still the man had gone in against impossible odds, blocked off his enemies escape, and then engaged an absolutely superior force before eliminating all of them. The only missing piece of the puzzle was the missing scroll, of which he would most likely have to ask Jiraiya about, now. The young man had woken up earlier, and briefly informed the Hokage of the man he had seen 'killing' his clone and leaving.

If he was being honest with himself though, he wasn't too upset over the loss of a Biju that he had no intent of using. He was however, worried at who had taken it, and what they were planning on using the beasts for, if any reports of this "Akatsuki's" motives or movements were to be believed. The old shinobi looked out the window of the hospital, staring out at the moonlit night as the clouds parted over Konoha, the shadows on the streets below dancing to the rhythm of the wind in the leaves. There was a storm coming, of that he was sure, and he knew he was going to need every one of his shinobi active to help the village weather it.

At that thought, he turned back to the bed-ridden and bandaged blonde, before shifting his gaze to the smaller, redheaded woman that was fast asleep in the seat closest to the young Captain, her hands clutching one of his in her lap as she slept. The fiery-persona that was Tayuya had rushed to the hospital as soon as she had found out what had happened, and had steadfastly refused to leave the Naruto's side. Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle to himself, happy at how this had managed to turn out for the blonde, but finding it ironic that while so many things in the world seemed to be going wrong, that at least the young blonde shinobi had at least one thing going right.

Hiruzen Sarutobi exited the room, content to let the two sleep to their hearts content. They'd certainly earned it.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Holy fuckin shit! That was a doozy of a chapter to write. I hope you guys liked the fight with an insane Danzo as much as I did. Anyways, I'm at a bit of a crossroads on something, so maybe you guys can help. Should I put in a full lemon? Or just leave the story as is, having it allude to the actions but not actually writing them out? Poll's up on my profile, so go vote and well see what happens.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	10. Prices Paid

**Hey everyone! Welcome back to the 10** **th** **chapter of 'Immortalized'! I'd like to thank all you guys that take the time to read/review. I love getting feedback on my work and I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. I hope I'm able to keep you all interested in the story as it keeps going on, and real quick, for those of you who have been asking, 'Immortalized' will NOT have a harem. While I don't particularly care one way or the other on them, I don't believe I could convincingly write one. Anyways, onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **Prices Paid**

* * *

Naruto laid in his bed, enjoying the soft warmth of his large bed, and upon waking up, slowly opened his eyes to look on the plain white ceiling of the room. As he breathed in the fresh, clean air, he could honestly say he was happy to have been granted a gracious few days from the Hokage to recover from the 'Shimura Incident', as it had taken to being called over the short period of time that had passed. The blonde haired shinobi sighed softly to himself, not wanting to wake the other person that had taken to sharing his bed, as he started thinking to himself.

It had been six days since the Shimura Incident, where Danzo and two of his Lieutenants, the now identified Aburame Fu and Yamanaka Torune, had broken into the Hokage's vault, and while a large force of the old war hawks ROOT Shinobi had run interference for him. It had quickly become a battle of silent and unseen chaos, as the two warring Black Ops factions fought against each other. As the ROOT shinobi had all been inside of and integrated with the regular ANBU divisions, when the order came for them to show their true colors it was a near massacre for the loyalists in the first few minutes of open conflict.

This wasn't to last though, as the separatist forces of Danzo's ROOT were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the loyal ANBU Divisions under the lead of the Captains, and even the Hokage himself had taken to open combat later in the fight, proving his moniker as the "The Professor" was still accurate as he single handedly decimated ninja after ninja. It was only after the Hokage and his forces had dealt a swift end to all of the separatists that they had been able to make their way towards the large purple glowing barrier in the woods, and had come across Naruto's own fight, watching with bated breath as the Captain of the Seventh Division took on three opponents of A-Rank notoriety.

After the battle the after the fallen blonde shinobi had been rushed to the hospital to treat the multitude of wounds that had littered his body, losing consciousness before he had even been taken off of the nearly obliterated battlefield. He had slept straight through the next three days, only briefly waking up once on the second day, and after giving the Hokage a very quick report, he had fallen asleep again. It was honestly surprising, for with as much damage as he had taken, it was astonishing that he was even alive, and even the young Captain's healing factor was hard pressed to even attempt to undo all of the damage to his body.

All in all, the blonde had been allowed to leave the hospital after a mere five days of mandated bed rest, and was granted a subsequent week of recovery leave in the meantime, before he would resume his normal duties in the ANBU Corps. He had also found out that the Hokage had raised the late Shimura Danzo's rank from A to S-Rank in the bingo book, due to his resurrection abilities that he had gained from the ten (now destroyed) Sharingan eyes that had been implanted in the man's arm, and the other one he had in his eye, and had deposited a very generous amount of money into the overworked blonde's account, paying him for the success of an S-Ranked mission itself.

Unfortunately though, the mission was still officially marked as a failure, since the parameters of the mission had been to not only defeat and either capture or kill the wayward Shimura, but to retrieve the scroll that had the Sanbi sealed inside of it. This bothered Naruto a great deal, and he frowned as he lay in his bed, absentmindedly stroking the long red hair of the woman currently laying her head on his defined chest. He could care less about the mission success rate he had maintained until now, records were constantly being broken, and he was sure someone would eventually beat his. No, what bothered him was the man that had stolen the Sanbi from his clone.

It was the second time he had encountered the strange people who wore the black coats with red clouds, and both times it had been in pursuit of a Biju. He had asked his Hokage about it, and while he was sure that the old man knew something about it, the Sandaime had refused to tell him, informing him that his old teacher and Godfather, Jiraiya, would be returning to the village soon, and that he would fill him in on everything.

That was fine, he could accept that. He trusted his Hokage explicitly, and if he wasn't telling him, then there was a damn good reason for it. That just gave him more time to train and to hone his abilities. This last fight had shown him where he was lacking, and much to his chagrin, even for as strong as he was against an S-Class enemy he was nothing. Even thinking back on his fight with Danzo, he was sure he would have lost if the man hadn't literally gone insane from the trauma of dying so many times in such a short time. Once again, he had fought a much stronger enemy, and he only just won because of luck. He needed to be strong, dammit, so that when his luck ran out, he would still come out on top.

He had people to protect now. That isn't to say that he didn't before, but as he looked at the sleeping form of his girlfriend, the phrase had different meaning. He would currently rather die than have something happen to _his_ Tayuya. He thought back, and smiled as he remember how this who thing had finally been pushed into motion, only a few days prior.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Naruto let out a groan as he woke up, his muscles aching in protest from the few days of complete and utter lack of activity, damn he was stiff. He moved to bring his hands to his face, only to find that his left arm was trapped under something and he couldn't move it. Rubbing his eyes lightly with his other hand, and looking over to his unresponsive limb, he was greeted with a sight that was somewhat surprising to him, gazing down at the sleeping form of his foul mouthed, red headed friend and roommate, Tayuya._

 _He had to admit, she still somehow managed to look cute, half laying and half sitting in the chair closest to his bed, his hand clutched in her own as if she was afraid that he would float away if she let go. Her hair was in disarray, and he could tell by her slightly puffed up nose that she had been crying, recently. Her shirt was wrinkled, and he couldn't help but think that it looked like she hadn't slept in days. He decided to let her sleep, and simply just watched her. It touched him that she was here, showing how much she cared for him. Yeah, he could let her sleep, she deserved the rest. Slowly leaning back, Naruto closed his eyes and raised his arm to rest behind his head, gently squeezing her hand that he held in his as he did so._

"… _Naruto? Please tell me that was you and that I didn't just imagine it." The blonde's eyes snapped open, his head snapping over to look at her, vary aware of the hand that was getting crushed in hers as the redhead in question slowly raised her head, her eyes meeting his, chocolate orbs full of concern meeting the slightly confused ones of electric blue._

" _Yeah, Tayuya. It's me." He found himself crossly unprepared for the slap that connected with the side of his face, hard enough to turn his head and make his head spin. As the Uzumaki moved his head back, already sucking in a breath to berate the woman for hitting him, he was slammed into by the whole of the girl, and he found himself pulled into a hug, the usually fiery redheads face tucked into the crook of his neck. Naruto, his mood instantly changed as he felt her literally shaking in his arms, did the only thing he could, he held her, and let her softly cry into his shoulder._

 _He had never seen Tayuya like this before, and he had never thought that he would either. It just wasn't like her to act so vulnerable and defenseless, not like the girl he had come to know. The Tayuya he knew was strong, brash, and was always looking for a fight, but this one… this one was different. He was seeing a completely new side of her as she held onto him for dear life as she choked back tears, mumblings things into his shoulder he couldn't make out. So he held her, softly stroking her back and making a gentle 'shh'ing noise in her ear as he did so._

 _It had been several minutes before Tayuya pulled herself from the pulled herself from his shoulder, but remaining sitting on the side of his bed, their bodies' mere inches apart, as she pulled one of her hands up to part her hair, softly tucking it behind her ear. She looked at him, their eyes once again meeting, but before Naruto could comment on it, he found a fist planted half-heartedly in his chest. "Shithead…don't ever, EVER, go out and try to die on me again, or I swear to Kami I'll kill you myself." Tayuya softly growled out, accentuating her words by lightly hitting him in the chest._

" _Ow, ow! Injured recently, ow! Bring back the other Tayuya! The one who was worried about me, she was gently with me, at least!" Naruto joked at her, freeing one of his arms from her grasp, and stopping her arm from hitting him again by grabbing it around her wrist, bringing his other hand to the side if her face, cupping it lightly, and rubbing his thumb across her cheek, wiping away one of the tears that was all too obvious to the redhead. Their eye contact never wavering, and as Tayuya herself completely gave up her halfhearted struggle in his arms, the Uzumaki heir spoke once more, placing any inhibitions about what the redhead was planning to the side with his next words. "I'm not going anywhere, Tayuya."_

 _Maybe it was the way that he said it. Maybe it was the last straw the broke the metaphorical camel's back on her buildup of feelings. Hell, maybe it was the combination of him fixing her flute in a gesture of kindness and then her finding him broken and battered after fighting for his life soon after. Tayuya didn't know what it was in that moment exactly, but later on when she'd look back on it, she didn't really care. In that single moment, all that mattered was that he was there, he was alive, and she knew he cared for her just as much as she did him, if not more so. Tayuya's final inhibitions had fallen, her walls destroyed by the blonde haired and blue eyed Captain, and she didn't care in the slightest._

 _All these thoughts rushed through her mind in the matter of seconds it took for their lips to connect, their faces having been inching forwards and towards each other as soon as Naruto had finished speaking. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned her head to the side, Naruto doing the same as he released her arm, his hands finding her waist as he pulled her closer, his own eyes closing in the process. The first kiss didn't last all that long, being merely a chaste one at best before Tayuya pulled back, her arms still wrapped tightly around the blondes neck. "Don't scare me like that again, Shithead." She said, her voice barely above a whisper, pleading almost as she dove back in, the blonde smiling softly as he closed the distance himself._

" _No promises."_

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Naruto smiled down at the redhead laying on him, noticing that she had woken up during his musing, as she raised her head to look at him, resting her chin on his kef pec, and grinning up at him. "'Mornin, Shithead." She said simply, simply enjoying the feel of him running his fingers through her hair in the early morning light, and pouting slightly as he paused, raising himself up slightly, leaning on his elbows as he looked at her, and she noticed that for the first time in a few days, all the color had returned to his cheeks, and he had the old mischievous glint in his eyes that she had come to enjoy over the last nine months that she had been living with the blonde.

"Good morning, Tayuya." The Captain of the Seventh Division grinned, happily sitting up all the way, playfully dumping the woman off of him, and flexing his arms, inspecting himself briefly. "I feel like I'm finally back at one-hundred percent! I'm back at the top of my game, and that means I ca-mmph!" Naruto was caught off guard as his new girlfriend latched her mouth onto his, her hand finding his chest, and pushing him back down onto the bed, before she pulled back, grinning at the blonde and letting out a small wink as she lowered her mouth to his earlobe, whispering in it softly, yet still in excitement.

"There's only one fuckin' thing that you're going to be doing right now, Shithead. And it ain't fuckin' training…" She trailed off softly, before biting the man's earlobe gently as she mover her legs over to straddle him, on hand on either side of his head. "…Though I guess you could consider it a workout." She pulled back, grinning at the dazed look the blonde had on his face. She was doing a pretty good job at attempting to be sexy, if that was anything to go by. This was the first time she was attempting to be like this for someone else, all of the other little "flings" she had had before being nothing but fleeting moments of pure physical pleasure for her. But even she had to admit to herself, she _loved_ the rush she got as she watched the usually powerful and collected blonde become putty in her hands.

Naruto had finally managed to shake the brief moment of euphoria he had gotten from the woman from his system as his mind cleared, and he gazed into his (soon-to-be) lover's eyes, before he made his decision. He knew the only two things he needed to know. He cared for Tayuya, and she cared for him. It didn't matter where she was from, that she was formerly an enemy, nothing. He chuckled to himself as he rolled them over, grinning at the surprised face she had as he took charge, placing a hand on the side of her face as he leaned in to place a tender kiss on her soft lips, pulling away to rest his forehead on hers, feeling her breath against his lips, in those short, hitched breaths that showed him just how long she had wanted to do this. He kissed her again, closing his eyes as both members gave into their feelings, their hands beginning to roam each other's bodies as their moment together heated up through their joined passion.

Naruto grinned, letting out a small gasp as her hand found its way to the southern end of his body, but no less enjoying the feelings she was eliciting from him, and making a mental note to return the favor. He could definitely get used to this. He had another day off after this, and if he was being honest with himself, this was one helluva good way to spend it, and he couldn't think of a reason to not to, not that he was looking.

* * *

Naruto stood in his room, looking over himself in the mirror as he finished dressing himself, before glancing towards the window, and idly noticing that it was still quite dark outside. It was still fairly early in the morning though, so it was to be expected. Looking down at the mask in his hand, he looked into the slitted eyeholes of the mask, his eyes taking in every contour of his new mask, brushing his hand over it, feeling the hard yet smooth material seemingly glide under her fingertips. The blonde haired shinobi sighed softly to himself once, letting out the puff of air softly so as not to wake the sleeping member in the room, before fitting the predatory-feline themed mask over his face, locking it in place and noting that just like his old one, it was a perfect fit. It had been over two months since he had rejoined ANBU after recovering from his fight with Danzo, but he still wished he had been able to preserve his original mask.

Lynx moved to the side of the desk, grabbing the sheathe blade that was Kaze no Karitoriki, sliding the sword over his shoulder and latching it into place before he walked silently over to the side of his bed, leaning down and brushing a finger across the sleeping face of the former Oto-Kunoichi, and brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and after pushing his mask to the side of his face, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss against the top of her forehead, turning and replacing his mask before he opened the window and jumped into the sill, freezing at the sound of a quiet voice behind him.

"Be safe, Shithead." Lynx looked over his shoulder, looking back at the red headed kunoichi who was sleepily sitting up and looking at him. Had she been able to see under his mask, she would have surely noticed the small smile that spread across Lynx's mouth, before he disappeared in a flash of dark blue, the window shutting after him, as Tayuya laid back down to sleep, pulling the pillow tighter into her grasp and cursing softly to herself. Why did her idiot have to make her feel like a little girl with a crush?

* * *

Lynx appeared inside the ANBU headquarters, smirking to himself at the nickname his girlfriend had given him so long ago, and absolutely refused to change. It was ironic, he thought as he walked through the compound to Seventh Division Barracks, that it was in actuality a nasty name, but she would use it as a term of endearment. He knew she only meant it as a joke, so he didn't really mind. He was honestly happy with the way things were going between the two of them, even if they had only decided to 'become official' a little over a week ago, and there were a lot of things he had come to grow fond of about her, the least of which was how she would put on a forced tough exterior that would crumble away when she knew they were alone, or sharing a moment.

That isn't to say that he wanted her to completely change into a softie on him, he had grown to love the woman with the fiery temper who would jump at the slightest provocation and fight anyone who dared to doubt her. That was the woman he had come to care for, not some weak minded woman who was three steps away from being a civilian with an inferiority complex. She was smart, independent, and able to take care of herself, and most of all, she cared for him just as much as he cared for her. Tayuya had proven that to him in her own unique, curse filled way, and that was all he could ask for.

Lynx was pulled from his thoughts as he opened the door to the Seventh Division's Captain's office, pushing aside his thoughts of home and returning to his working mindset as he took in the neat and orderly office, with the small, neat pile of papers on the corner of his desk with an appraising eye. His Lieutenant, Boar, boar had done a fantastic job of running the division while he was gone, and Lynx was reminded of why he had chosen the man to be his second in command, and the smooth 'test run' of the division had only cemented the idea further into his mind. When Lynx finally left the Corps., he was going to recommend Boar as his replacement for division Captain, just as his old Captain, Cat, had done for him.

That isn't to say that he was planning on leaving any time soon, though. However most ANBU members, regardless of rank, tended to be phased out of the program after about five years, give or take. This was largely due to the psychological stress the division's work put upon the members. Each team member of an ANBU unit had to go through rigorous physical and mental training to even call themselves an Agent, including being tortured in varying degrees (though this was to prepare them for what to expect if they were captured by an enemy force) .

A person's psyche could only take so much punishment before it snapped, and the black ops division had personal Yamanaka members dedicated to evaluating the men and women of the program so that they could get any member out before they snapped. If wasn't the goal of the program to return broken, trauma laden Ninja's to the usual workforce of the village, but it happened every now and then. Hatake Kakashi was a perfect example of this, though the man did a very good job of hiding his PTSD from the general public. However, if you had talked with the man for long, or known him personally, it was blatantly obvious by his mannerisms and his inability to move on from the past. Seriously, the man spent his every waking moment at the memorial stone, lamenting about the past, unfortunately able to move on.

Everyone in the village, and the Ninja and ANBU forces themselves, found a way to deal with their stress. Lynx himself dealt with it with the things he had seen and some of the more horrific things he had done by more or less splitting himself down the center. To him, his off-duty, honor bound and eccentric self was Naruto, while the mission essential, cold and calculating man was Lynx. He was able to distinguish easily between the two mindsets, and he knew when to employ each one. It was one of the first things Jiraiya had taught him.

Lynx made a mental not to thank the grown and self-proclaimed Super Pervert. The man had been a giant boon to him, and had been there for when he needed him most. And while it was unfortunate that he hadn't seen the man in years, he understood that the man had his own duties to attend to. The man still found the time to write him, though, sending his letters in the form of toad summons from time to time, and giving him the sagely and somewhat perverted advice that Lynx cherished, regardless of whether or not he actually took the advice. His Godfather was there for him, and that was something he would always hold dear to his heart, regardless of whatever came for him, or whatever storm brewed, he could take it.

Lynx looked up at the new entry to his chamber, noting Falcon's arrival and inclining his head, giving the man permission to speak as he knelt before the teen, his head bowed in a respectful fashion as he spoke in the metallic and clipped tone that the ANBU masks were trademarked for. "Lynx-Taichou. Hokage-Sama requests your presence in his office. Jiraiya-Sama has some intelligence he wants you to hear and give your perspective on."

Lynx nodded, and with an absentminded wave of his armored hand he dismissed the kneeling agent who vanished in a brief shunshin. Placing the papers he had been going through on the desk, Lynx stood up before vanishing in the flash of deep blue that was quickly becoming his own moniker.

It sure did make traveling easy, though.

* * *

The tree branch shook as the armored foot kicked down upon it, launching the man forward and an alarming speed, two more people stepping on the branches alongside it, propelling them forward as well. The three man cell was on the way to the small town of Chinbaku, a farming village on the near the border of Kusagakure (The Village Hidden in the Grass) and Konoha. The reason for the mission was simple, all trade with the town had ceased suddenly, and while this wasn't too detrimental to the village of Konoha itself, the rate at which all communications had ceased with the village was alarming.

It had been absolutely sudden, and with no warning, and while this was only slightly troubling, it got significantly worse. The Hokage had dispatched a typical Genin squad with a Jounin Sensei out to the town, but that had been over a week ago. It took a minimum of two days to get to Chinbaku from the gates of Konoha, and there had been no word from the team, and this particular Jounin Sensei, Ebisu, while not only a powerful and capable shinobi in his own right, was a man fond of punctuality, if the reports on him were to be believed.

The leader of the of the three man team, the decorated Captain Lynx, while leading the group to Chinbaku, reviewed the facts in his head one more time as he ran, having already briefed his team on the matter yesterday before they left Konoha. He knew Ebisu, the two had met several times as the man was currently the Sensei of the Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru. Lynx himself had watched the boy a few times, and even come to grow slightly fond of him, often "playing ninja" with the young boy and his two friends Udon and Moegi. All three had been Genin under Ebisu for a bit under a year, and were quite capable for Genin, they should have been fine to undertake a simple 'establishing contact' mission on their own, even without their Sensei. So why had there been no contact?

Lynx sighed, shaking his head briefly as he kicked off of another branch. Worrying about it now would do nothing to change whatever had happened, so he would just have to hurry and get there. Besides, if something was wrong, he was an ANBU Captain, there wasn't much he couldn't handle, and he even had backup in the form of Sparrow and Dog. Between the three of them, there wasn't a lot in the world that would be able to stop them from accomplishing their mission. Turning his head back to the other issue he had been thinking over, Lynx started going over the information he had gotten some two months prior when the Toad Sage had been in Konoha to give the Hokage an update that concerned him in particular.

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _So just to summarize, there's a group of S-Class criminals that are out collecting the giant ass, super destructive and unpredictable chakra masses we call Bijuu, all of which are currently sealed into a Jinchuriki, which makes me a prime target. However, for a reason we don't yet know, they can't come after the Kyuubi actively until they manage to do whatever it is they are doing with the other Bijuu. This gives me an unknown amount of time before this group, "Akatsuki", decides to actively pursue me to suck the monster from my body, killing me in the process. Oh! And I almost forgot, they're already pissed at me because I threw a wrench in their plans when I killed Sasori and slowed down their capturing of the Sanbi. Did I miss anything?" Naruto finished, slightly out of breath as he stood there, arms crossed with a deadpan look on his face, his Lynx'ed themed mask sitting on the side of his head as he questioned the two other men in the office._

 _Jiraiya sighed. The young man had or less summed up his entire briefing into a couple of not so eloquent, but no less informative, sentences. "Yeah kid, more or less. Which means that we have to get you up to snuff, and fast. I know you're already strong, but we both know that you're not on an S-Class level yet." At this, the boy's shoulders slumped, ever so slightly. The boy was strong, very strong for his age and was the most mature teen Jiraiya had ever known, but he was still just a teenager, only just turning sixteen a small time ago. Jiraiya crossed the room in a small stride, giving Naruto his trademark grin as he ruffled the teen's hair._

" _But don't worry about that, I've got a plan for it. I'm gonna get you up to the same level and higher than I was even able to get Minato! Well, either that or I'll kill you trying!" The Toad Sage and self-proclaimed super pervert laughed to himself. H he knew that Naruto was going to have his hands full with his Senjutsu training, but if anyone could fully master the technique, it would be the blonde haired Captain._

 _Jiraiya stopped laughing for a moment, before pulling out his notebook and look at the blond with a half serious smirk, "Now, I heard you had a girlfriend?"_

 _Flashback End_

* * *

Lynx allowed himself a brief smile at the memory, and could honestly say he was looking forward to the training he would be going through with his Godfather. As it was, he was slated to leave in a couple weeks. He would have preferred to leave for Mount Myōboku, the homeland of the Toads, the summoning contract that his father and Jiraiya, and now he as well, were all a summoner of, but Jiraiya had a few last minute things to take care of, so he would have to wait. He was looking forward to the trip, it'd be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the ANBU for a while, and he would also get to spend some time with his Godfather, which was a plus.

Lynx was yanked from his thoughts as he looked ahead, the town of Chinbaku coming into view, his mindset instantly back to that of the Captain of the Seventh ANBU Division. The first thing he noticed was the severe lack of activity. Though he and his team were still some ways off, they hadn't seen anyone on any of the roads, nor could he confirm a visual on anyone moving about the village. He snapped his head to the side, looking to the agent on his left, barking out swift orders. "Sparrow, I want a visual scan immediately once we are in range. Current range, six-hundred meters and closing."

"Taichou." Sparrow stated simply, the long and dark haired member of the Hyuuga Clan responded, activating his Doujutsu, the Byakugan, though because of his mask a normal person would never have noticed the change. Confirming hid orders had been understood, Lynx turned to the other member of the cell, addressing him in an equal tone.

"Dog. I want a pull perimeter check upon reaching a range of two-hundred meters." Nodding at the clipped 'Taichou' he received from the other member of his team, Lynx turn straight ahead once more before addressing both members of the team. "Upon contact with the town, I will make initial contact and commence the search. Rendezvous ten minutes after contact with Chinbaku, falling back to my position, signified by chakra pulse." Lynx didn't need to wait for a response, as he knew his team had heard his orders, and after many a mission together, they had grown to respect and trust their Captain completely.

Once the three men reached two hundred meters, Dog broke off from the group, heading to the left of the small town, and began clearing the perimeter as per his instructions, vanishing from the other two member's sight. Lynx had a bad feeling about this. Something was off, they were now less than two-hundred meters out and had yet to see any sort of life, and now that he was closer, he could see that something was off about the village's buildings. He was too far to tell, but something definitely wasn't right. This was only confirmed when Sparrow informed him that while they were in range of his Doujutsu, he was unable to verify any living chakra signatures in the town. Lynx confirmed, before he ordered the man to assist in the perimeter check, and Sparrow beat a lead off to the right, disappearing from view right as Lynx himself landed on the roof of the building closest to the edge of the town, and that was when he smelt it.

Rotting flesh. It had a smell that was unlike any other, one that was unmistakable once you had encountered it before. Lynx himself had smelled it before, many times, as had every member of ANBU at some point or another. Agents were killers, but they were humane ones, instructed to always make it so when possible. They were not there to torture and maim, they were the swift and precise scalpel of the Hokage.

So when Lynx landed on the roof of that building, he wasn't initially shocked, it too a lit to shake a Captain, after all, but he was mildly surprised. However, as he watched and waited as the small task force of clones he created began their swift and thorough search of the town, he couldn't shake the feeling that something here was wrong, very wrong. He had seen towns wiped from the map before, hell, he had even participated in razing a village to the ground, and while it wasn't something he was proud of, orders were orders and at the end of the day, he would trust in the judgement of his Hokage.

He blinked in surprise behind his mask when one of his clones dispelled, sending him the memories it had seen over the last few minutes, and then another, and another. Soon, all but one of his clones had dispersed, and Lynx began sifting through the sights that flooded his mind for anything of importance, bile threating to creep into the back of his throat had he not squashed it back down, holding his bearing like the trained professional he was.

There was the scarlet tint of blood on several buildings, almost as if it had been splattered there by someone throwing a can of paint, that was the first thing he noticed, aside from the smell, and while it wasn't particularly alarming, it wasn't a good sign. The next thing his clones had found was a shattered sword, lying on the ground, broken in two, near the severed head of a man, though no body was found. He blinked, sending the sight to the back of his mind, and doing his best to forget the eyes that were still in the sockets, staring at him, the lips pulled back in a silent, eternal scream.

His next clone had found a collapsed building, and upon further inspection discovered the remains of several kunai and shuriken inside of it, all broken beyond repair. But it was the next thing that truly began to alarm Lynx, as the next memory he sifted through was that of a building that had been clearly barricaded, but from the outside, trapping whatever was inside. The building was missing several large chunks, and the roof itself was collapsed, and there were the telltale marks of fire jutsu having been sent into the warehouse, lighting it ablaze. And while that in itself wasn't horrid, when his clone had stepped inside to investigate, Lynx did a very, very admirable job of holding himself together.

Inside the warehouse that had been burnt to a crisp were bodies, masses of bodies. Women, some holding the charred remains of their children, holding their bodies over their children, their bones blackened from the flames and smoke. There were the half decomposed skeletons on Men beating against the doors, now stuck in the eternal attempt to escape and to save their families, chunks of skin hanging from their bodies as their corpses laid upon the floor. The smell was horrible, magnified by the close proximity of the charred bodies, the clone saw one last sight before he dispersed, the burnt body of a woman, still clutching the broken body of an infant in her arms, a small piece of cloth that had gone untarnished hanging over the lower half of the babies mouth, her mother still curled around her as she lie on the floor, covered in soot.

Then the next clone came, and the next, and the next, all filled with similar sights, a skull crushed here, a broken body there, and then something else caught his eye. One of his clones had found the dead body of a raven, a kunai knife sticking out of the body of the deceased bird. His clone had of course freed the bird of the small scroll that had no doubt been the reason that it was killed, and unraveled it. The scroll contained a request for immediate reinforcement, signed by the Jounin of Team Four, Ebisu. It detailed that when they arrived, the town was under siege from an enemy shinobi force, their affiliation unknown, and that they would be attempting to find survivors and evacuate them immediately. The message was dated for two days before the Hokage had sent his team, just under four days ago.

Lynx immediately began to sweat, this could mean war, especially if Team Ebisu had been captured, or worse, considering who Konohamaru was and his relation to the Sandaime. Lynx felt his heart drop at the concept, war was ugly, and while he had never been in once, he had ran enough missions in ANBU to know that widespread combat was a terrible thing. He was already beginning to formulate a plan to track down the missing Team Four, and if they had been captured, to rescue them, when his final clone had dispersed. Lynx's eyes widened behind his mask before he disappeared in a series of shunshins, flying across the town, rushing to the place where his clone had been, one of the only buildings that had remained standing and unscathed from the obvious combat and destruction that had taken place, desperately hoping his clone had merely been caught in a Genjutsu.

Lynx appeared in front of the building, and was frozen, rooted to his spot, all of his training and experience in ANBU and as a Captain leaving him in that brief second as his body broke into a cold, terrifying sweat as he took in the sight before him with horrified eyes. Nailed to the wall by his arms which hung above his head was the broken and bloody body of Ebisu, his hands pierced with Kunai shoved deep through the palms, holding him above the ground. His ever present eyeglasses were missing, and the man's head hung low and forward, his throat cut, the now dried blood having seeped into his shirt. The Jounin's legs had been severed at the knees, his legs completely missing from there down. The skilled shinobi's headband was still tied proudly around his head, though it was dented and scarred, a shuriken actually still sticking out of it.

Tearing his eyes from the dead Jounin Lynx moved his gaze to the body nearest to him, that of the fallen Udon, who was face down in the dirt, his back littered with kunai, and the broken hilt of a katana still clutched in the kid's hand. Udon had been trying to branch out, and in Lynx's own image, had been attempting to learn how to use a blade, the same sword that Lynx had given him a year prior, which now lay broken and useless in his hand. The little Genin had clearly not gone down without a fight, if the blood staining his body was anything to go by. Lynx knelt next to him, and as he rolled the body over to check for vitals, he knew it would be fruitless-Udon's left arm was missing at the shoulder, and even though he checked anyways, Lynx knew he would have bled out long ago.

And then he saw it, leaned up against the wall was the small form of two children, barely into their teens, one in the lap of the other as he held her in his arms. Lynx lowered Udon gently to the ground, doing his best to hold back his tears as he swiftly moved to their side, taking in the scene with wide eyes and a gut wrenching chill falling through his suddenly very stiff and unresponsive body as he forced himself to move. He got to the body and crouched at their side, the fallen form of Konohamaru holding the deceased body of Moegi in his arms.

Moegi's leg had been blown off by a paper seal, the top half of the tag still applied to the upper portion of her thigh, her other leg peppered with shrapnel. She had a hole in her chest where her heart should have been, the very obvious imprint of a fist there, though he suspected she had been dead before that. Lynx moved his eyes to her once soft and kind face, moving his hand to wipe away from her head, and noting bluntly that her neck had been snapped, the bones jutting awkwardly to the side in her throat, and that's when he heard it, and as he mentally pulled himself from his stupor, cursing himself for letting his guard down, he was immediately metaphorically thrown back down as he recognized the voice, hoarse and choked as it was, it was unmistakable, especially when it came from three inches to his left.

"Boss?"

Lynx's head snapped around so fast it hurt, staring into the one remaining eye of Konohamaru, his right one a lost cause as he noticed the senbon jutting from it. Lynx fumbled with his mask for a brief second, dropping it to the ground when he saw Konohamaru's confused look when he saw the mask of the ANBU. Naruto's mind was going a mile a minute as he raised his hand to the kid's cheek, looking him in the eye. Konohamaru, though just barely alive, had seen the signature dull yellow locks of his pseudo-older brother, and recognized him in his final waning moments of life.

"Konohamaru! Thank Kami you're alright, we're gonna get you help kid, don't worry, we'll get you help, you're not hurt that bad really, come on, keep your eyes open, Otōto (Younger Brother), keep 'em open, don't fall asleep…" Naruto was rambling as he pulled the corpse of Moegi off of the boy, and did his best to keep his cool, though he was rambling and he knew it. He fought the urge to widen his eyes and lose it more than he already had though when he got the young girl off of him, failing to notice anything but the gaping hole in the boys lower abdomen. Had he been in a calm state of mind he would have been amazed that the eventual heir to the Sarutobi Clan was even alive, and know that the boy had little chance of survival.

"I tried to-*cough*- I tried, Boss…" Konohamaru wheezed out, Naruto still desperately trying to perform first aide on the dying boy, failing to notice his remaining eye fluttering open and shut, open and shut.

"I know you did, Otōto, I know you did, now come on, keep that mouth shut, save your energy man, we're going to need it for when we get these guys back for this. We'll get them together, Konohamaru, and after that I'll train you up so this doesn't happen again. You wanted to be Hokage, remember? You gotta be stronger than this man, and we'll get there-"Naruto was stopped as he heard a cough and some blood splatted his face, and he stopped what he was doing, grabbing the fallen child's face in-between his hands and looking him in the eye, or attempting to. His eye was closed, a small, but broken smile on his face, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.

Naruto simply stared, and looked at the boy, having had him die in his arms. He didn't know how long he sat there, but it was long enough that he didn't register his subordinates landing behind him, and made no move as they approached his still kneeling form. "Taichou?" Sparrow questioned, as he knelt beside his Captain, noting with mild surprise that his mask was off, a serious breach of protocol, while Dog surveyed the area and contained the perimeter.

Naruto, shaken from his dead headed stupor, immediately stood up, his mask replaced on his face with a flash, returning from his shell-shocked state in a matter of seconds as he turned to his team, addressing them in the authoritative and sound voice they knew and respected. "Sparrow, Dog, seal the fallen shinobi into the appropriate scrolls, you know the proper protocol. We return to Konoha immediately. Move." With a clipped "Taichou", both men began their preparations, as Lynx looked over to the side, a glint of metal catching his eye.

As he walked over and picked it up, Lynx felt his rage burning within him, and it took a great amount of self-control for him to not blast off to the North-East towards the nearest hidden village, slaughtering as many as he could before he was taken down. No, this had to be done through the proper channels, and he had to hold himself together in front of his men. _That_ was his duty. He wasn't a loose cannon, no matter how fucking much he wanted to be right now. He'd get his chance, he was sure of that, even if he had to fight the coming war himself, he would return the favor that had been done to him. No one hurt his family, and today Lynx had lost three members of it, and a friend. Heads were going to roll. Lynx marched towards his team, about to begin briefing them for the team's return trip, his left hand clenching around the object in his hands.

It was a beaten and batted Kusagakure headband.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that's the new chapter, this was my first hand at darker writing, but I refuse to write a war where everyone goes home happy. That's not how it is. Not in my experience. For those of you who voted for the lemon, I appreciate you all taking the time to vote, and there** _ **will**_ **be one in the future, I'm not ignoring the poll. I just couldn't fit it into this chapter the way I wanted to. So it'll be in some other chapter, don't worry about it. Anyways, if you take the time to review, I thank you in advance. I appreciate and love all the feedback that I get from you guys, it's how I improve upon my writing and make shit better.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	11. Passing the Torch

**Hey all! Welcome back to the next chapter of 'Immortalized'! Before I start off for the day, thanks to all you guys who not only read/review. I'm glad to know you all are enjoying the story so far and interested in the outcome. Also, the story has been added to its first Community! That's pretty fuckin' cool. Thanks, guys.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Passing the Torch**

* * *

" _Boss! Can you play Ninja with me today?"_

 _The small smiling form of Sarutobi Konohamaru, his eyes peeking out from under the goggles that adorned his forehead, the young boy nearly tripping on the absurdly long scarf that he insisted on wearing every day, no matter the weather, or the impracticality of such a long piece of fabric on such a small child. Naruto stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder slightly before turning around. He had been taking a small walk through the village, enjoying one of his few and far between off days that he had been granted since being promoted to Captain of the Seventh Division._

 _Letting a small smirk grace his lips as he walked up to his pseudo-younger brother, the blonde shinobi reached his hand out, ruffling the boys head and watching him scowl up at him as the chocolate haired child grabbed his hand and pushed it away, giggling in the process. "Sure Konohamaru. Now, what should be our mission for the day?" Naruto wondered aloud, before grinning down at the kid, before creating a clone, it seamlessly Henge-ing into an exact replica of the Sandaime Hokage, down to the white robes of office he wore, complete with the smoke billowing out from his signature pipe._

" _Uzumaki Naruto! Sarutobi Konohamaru!" Both boys, now standing side by side quickly snapped to attention, saluting as they did so. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to recover the artifact of great power from the great Ninja, Hatake Kakashi! The artifact is the sacred book of Icha-Icha, and while it is powerful, it is abused in the hands of that man. Recover the artifact, and swiftly!" The 'Hokage' dispersed soon after, just after watching Naruto hoist the little Sarutobi onto his shoulders, channeling chakra to his legs and taking to the rooftops._

 _It didn't take the duo long to find the masked Jounin, who was happily walking along one of the many various side streets in the market district of Konoha. The two watched him as he walked along, giggling softly and flipping a page of his book every so often, before Naruto nodded to Konohamaru, both men sneaking down and stealthily as they could, before halting their advance, hiding behind a nearby wall._

 _As Kakashi turned the corner, he was caught completely unawares as he found himself face to face with a woman, and a very naked woman at that. Her long, blonde hair reaching down to just above her round and bouncing ass, her eyes, a deep midnight blue as she let out a soft giggle that passed between her soft lips, the action causing her toned stomach to contract slightly, raising her large and ample breasts with her laughter, the beautiful woman's hard and erect nipples wiggling ever so slightly. She raised an arm to cover her upper bodies modesty, and though she lowered her other hand to cover her glistening core, it wasn't before the perverted Jounin was able to sneak a peek at the prize between her legs, which he noted with absolute delight were not only long, but smooth. The woman's fragrance filled the air, and though it somehow seemed impossible, blood permeated from the last Hatake's mask, just about the spot where his nose would have been had he not covered his face._

 _Before the man could speak, or blubber as was his current case, there was a large blast of smoke before something that felt strangely like a foot impacted the man's chest, sending him crashing into the nearby building, not with enough force to break through it, but enough to stun him briefly, as a paper seal was placed on his head and he found himself unable to move. When the smoke cleared, he was aware of two things. The first was that Naruto was standing in front of him, grinning cheekily as he ruffled the head of Konohamaru, who was dancing around and holding something above his head. The second thing he noticed was that the two little shits standing in front of him had his beloved Icha-Icha!_

 _The blonde Captain looked down at his younger charge, smiling at their success. Their plan had been perfectly executed, from their tracking of the Jounin to his distraction and Konohamaru's grabbing of the "Artifact". "Alright, listen. I slapped him with a paralyzing seal tag, and it only lasts five minutes. We've already used up two of those celebrating, so let's hurry and get you some inspiration for your Pervert-Ninjutsu!" The blonde grinned down at his pseudo-brother, and the two laughed together briefly as they skimmed through Kakashi's book, making mental notes here and there before they dropped it ungraciously on the ground, the scarf-clad boy climbing onto the blonde's shoulders before he vanished in a shunshin, just as the seal released and Kakashi leaped forward, a murderous look in his revealed eye._

 _But the two children were gone, and as he picked up his book and continued on his walk, Kakashi couldn't help but think that it was a well thought out and educated strategy. Meanwhile, the two boys in question were already across the village, walking into the favorite ramen stand of the Uzumaki heir, them both taking a seat at the bar, orders already on the way from the very attentive Ayame. The duo were laughing, discussing their recent victory, and eating their ramen together, Naruto treating the young Sarutobi as a way to celebrate his "Successful Mission."_

" _Boss…" Konohamaru started, his face turned down from his blonde haired idol, a shadow somehow obscuring his face, even though the stand was very well lit. Naruto looked over, a questioning look in his eye as he slurped noodles noisily into his mouth, the bowl at his lips as he raised an eyebrow, and motioned for the child to continue._

" _Why…Why weren't you there?" The boy that had been sitting there in the stand next to him was gone in the blink of an eye. Literally. Naruto blinked, and the happy, optimistic Konohamaru he had known and come to love as his own blood had vanished, replaced with a very different version of the same boy. He was older, by a few years in fact, proudly sporting a Konoha Hitai-Ite, though it was battered, scratched, and dented. The cloth of his scarf was blood stained and ripped, fraying in places and mottled in others. And then, then Naruto dropped his bowl, his mouth hanging open in abject horror as Konohamaru, the small child he had once sworn to protect as his own, turned his head towards him._

 _His right eye had a senbon extending from the dead center of his eye, poking through the iris as if it were the bullseye of a target, the needle finding its mark, the eye now dead. His mouth was leaking blood from both corners, the boy missing bits and pieces of his teeth. Konohamaru's shirt was tattered and torn, its once vibrant color now completely unrecognizable, a trio of jagged kunai stabbed into the boy's right shoulder. His stomach was still pouring blood, an uncountable amount of senbon littering his stomach, all of them undoubtedly poisoned. Naruto found himself unable to move as his brother moved towards him, getting in his face and screaming at him, his voice and undiscernible shriek, yet somehow Naruto understood every heart-wrenching word. "WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE,_ NISAN? _YOU SWORE! YOU SAID YOU WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME. WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE?! I NEEDED YOU AND YOU WEREN'T THERE! How… How can you call yourself my brother when you couldn't even keep one simple promise…?_

* * *

Naruto sat up in his bed abruptly, a cold, sheen sweat dripping from every pore on his body as he breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling with his deep uncontrolled breaths. The blonde's normally vibrant and blue eyes that were typically so full of confidence, now searched his bedroom in fear and uncertainty, almost as if he didn't recognize his surroundings. He hadn't made any discernable noises, but the sound of his breaths violated the silence, every muscle in his body tensed, as if he was locked in battle, expecting to take a hit at any second, ready to move and counterattack in turn, yet here in his room, sitting in his large bed, there were no enemies in sight, only the blackness that drowned the room in its shadow, typical of the night.

"Naruto?" A soft voice broke the silence, and his head couldn't have snapped faster over to his left, only just able to make out the form of his lover, her scarlet hair having fallen over her shoulders in rolling waves, as if it was a sea or red wine in the pitch darkness of night. Tayuya's eyes shined in the darkness, her chocolate orbs somehow picking up and reflecting the small amount of light that managed to pierce the shadows, shimmering with concern. Naruto blinked, his body slowly relaxing as he felt more than saw her sit up herself, grabbing his head and gently pulling it down to the bed as she laid back down, stroking his hair softly.

The kunoichi didn't show this side of herself often, and she had almost never shown it in public, preferring to 'uphold her reputation' as the fiery and hot blooded ninja that she was. However, in her most private of moments that she chose to share only with her boyfriend, she felt she could let her guard down. But things had changed once Naruto had returned from his mission to Chinbaku, and the once unshakeable and grounded blonde had been shattered by what he had seen. He hadn't talked for a couple days once he returned from the mission, and she had decided to not pry at him, as nearly every night he had woken up like this at some point. Eventually though, he had opened up to her, and even she, with the horrors she had experienced from her time in Oto, was sickened.

She didn't even call him her usual nickname, 'Shithead', such was her concern over the change that had happened in the blonde shinobi. She held him, stroking his moderately long dull blonde hair, sighing softly as she looked down upon his wide open eyes, leaning down and gently kissing his forehead. "You had the dream again." She had phrased it as a question, but it was obvious by the tone in her voice that what she had said was really a statement. The Captain sat himself, sitting alongside his partner and sighing shakily to himself as he brought his hands to bear in front of him, staring at his palms as they shook in the moonlight. He nodded simply, refusing to look away from his hands, the hands that had held his Otōto as he died.

He was pulled from his dark thoughts as a hand was placed on his own, closing around one of them and pulling him to his left, as another soft and delicate, yet strong and storied hand found its way to his cheek, turning his head as he fell in. He couldn't see anything in this low of light, but when he felt Tayuya kiss him tenderly, he no longer cared about what he could see, returning the kiss and squeezing her hand softly in his own. The two broke apart before laying back down in each other's arms, her head resting upon his chest as be breathed, much more calmly now instead of the ragged breaths from before. The red head clutched the arm of the blonde that was over her, pulling it close to her chest and holding it there, against the coarse fabric of the large t-shirt she was wearing underneath the covers.

Naruto broke the silence, his eyes already fluttering closed as he spoke so softly it might have been a whisper, his words just barely reaching the ear of the kunoichi in his arms. "Tayuya?"

She smiled gently to herself, snuggling into her boyfriend's arms, not failing to notice as his arms tightened ever so slightly around her, pulling her closer to him as they settled. "Yeah, Shithead?" She teased, knowing he didn't mind her little pet name for him, as he was the only person she had dubbed with the 'loving' term of endearment.

"Thank you."

* * *

The funerals for the four shinobi had been small, with the exception of Sarutobi Konohamaru's, which was attended by far more people, both citizens and shinobi from all over the village come to pay their respects to the fallen eventual heir of the Sarutobi Clan. There had been a short speech from the Hokage about his grandson, and about how his 'Will of Fire' had burned brightly until the very end, the young man defending his comrades and home until the very end, fighting on until the bitter end.

Naruto himself had gone up to give a short speech about the young scarf clad Genin, and though he choked up slightly during it, he made it through. He shared a couple short anecdotes about his time with the boy, and with the 'Konohamaru Corps', as they had come to be dubbed, and even managed to get a few small chuckles from the crowd gathered. He ended his speech, which ended up being the final one for the fallen boy, by asking the small army of people gathered to share a moment with him, taking a small break from mourning, and celebrating the life of Konohamaru, as that is what the kid would have wanted- he had always hated seeing his friends and family in pain.

And they had. For a few solid minutes, the assembled mourners stopped being that, and following the blondes lead as he walked from the podium, they began to clap. Softly at first, but then louder, people breaking out into forced back tears as it became a thunderous applause that shook the trees around them, the noise quickly becoming deafening, before it tapered off back into a respectful silence that was no less calming than it was unnerving, the small sobs here and there before the final act of a Ninja funeral was carried out. One by one, starting with the members of Konohamaru's graduating class, every ninja or former-nin, from the lowest, freshest Genin to the Hokage himself, walked somberly in a line to the small wooden casket at the head of the ceremony. The first person in line was a Genin by the name of Kisuke Abarai, a kid from his graduating class and a close friend of Konohamaru, as well as Udon and Moegi. He paced his way slowly to the coffin, stopping in front of it, before pulling the small silver ceremonial leaf pendant off of his black funeral attire, before carefully placing the tip of it into the wood, beating the pendant into the wood with a hard, closed fist.

One by one, ninja by ninja, the line dwindled as each member followed the member before them, forcing the small charms into the polished wood, the coffin eventually becoming covered in them as it sat upon the pyre. Naruto, having finished with his speech, moved to one of the four corners of the pyre itself, with the Sandaime, and Sarutobi Asuma standing on the other two sides, the open end facing towards the crowd. The three men flashed through a set of hand seals in complete unison, finishing with practiced ease on exactly the same moment, calling out together "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!), exhaling a long, constant stream of white-hot fire, lighting the pyre alight, a flame which would burn fiercely despite the falling rain.

Naruto, the jutsu complete, returned to the crowd of mourning shinobi, standing silently as Tayuya grabbed his arm, holding it firmly in her arms, pressing it gently against her body as she stood with her lover. She stood there with him for hours, and eventually, people started to disperse, soon leaving only the mourning couple, as well as Asuma and Hiruzen. But even they too left, Asuma lighting a cigarette and escorting his father home, the last two members of the Sarutobi clan leaving the long extinguished pyre. It was early the next morning, when the sullen blonde finally turned his eyes from the flame, looking to his tired, but still standing girlfriend, the sudden movement catching her eye as the redhead looked up to him, her grip on his hand tightening ever so slightly.

"Go home, Tayuya. Get some rest, please. I just…there's something that I need to do, and then I promise I'll come home, alright?" The chocolate eyed woman only nodded silently, squeezing his hand softly before she pulled the taller blonde down into a hug, which he eagerly returned, before the couple kissed once, softly, before Tayuya turned to leave, looking over her shoulder at the black clad blonde as she whispered softly, though she knew he could hear her even still.

"I'll be waiting for you, Naruto." He never responded, instead waiting a few more minutes after the woman he had come to cherish so dearly had disappeared, before he pulled one of his signature tri-pronged kunai from his pocket, turning it over slowly in his hands, before he clenched it tightly in his right fist, looking up, before nodding to himself once, and then beginning the long, slow walk towards his destination, he resolve unwavering as he moved from the spot he had diligently stood in for an entire day, his hand never losing its white-knuckled grip on the kunai never faltering as he marched towards Konohagakure's Memorial Stone.

He had four names to add to it.

* * *

Lynx was currently in the Hokage's office, going over the mission details that would prevalent to the Seventh Division over the next coming months. He sighed to himself, softly beneath his mask so as not to disturb the other men in the office. This was no normal meeting, like the typical Hokage to Ninja style mission briefing that was the norm. No, this was a war council, and consisted of several of the most influential and strategic men of the village, including Jiraiya, Nara Shikaku, and several of the ANBU Captains.

He idly thought about that last one, for a second. The black ops divisions were especially secretive, and that continued to apply to members of ANBU as well, going all the way from the lowest initiate to the Captain's themselves. Lynx had been the Captain of the Seventh Division, and while he knew the workings of his division inside and out, backwards and forwards, he didn't know anything about the others. Lynx didn't even know how many divisions there were in total, or how many members of ANBU there were. And he had never met the Captain of another division until now, not that this was really a meeting, as none of them talked to one another or even acknowledged each other's presence, standing like silent guardians on the walls of the room.

As he thought about it though, it made sense. If someone were to infiltrate the Corps, no matter how much ground they gained in a division, they would still know only that division, and would have little to no Intel on the others, Lynx mused to himself. Were he to turn traitor right now, he had no doubt that he would fail, the multitude of other divisions raining justice down upon him, killing all members of his division as well, not being able to trust the whole lot of them. He briefly cleared his mind, falling into an almost meditative state as he listened to the councilors of the Hokage's War Council as they discussed their plans for the coming months, attempting to find the best way to end it, quickly and with the least amount of bloodshed. Lynx didn't care. The murder and brutalization of Team Ebisu was still fresh in his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to go to Kusa and raze it to the ground. They were dark thoughts.

But hell, he reasoned with himself, these were dark times, he may as well have the thoughts to match. And indeed things were looking grim, with Konoha declaring full scale war on Kusagakure (Grass), and its allies of Otogakure and Takigakure (Waterfall) as well. It couldn't be avoided, after the blatant assault on Leaf soil, Kusa had sealed its fate, and its only remote chance of survival lie in the forms of its small withstanding allies, Oto and Taki. All three were minor countries, and had any one of them been facing Konoha alone, they would have been crushed. However, with the Ninja of the Leaf facing three separate enemies, they were also fighting a war on three fronts, though with Kusa and Taki sharing a border with each other and with Konoha, it was really only two fronts.

Still though, it was a logistical pain in the ass, since this would split the Konoha forces into two separate forces for defense alone, with them further splitting into three smaller assault forces were they to attack all three nations at once. The whole situation only got worse though, for the leaf also knew of a few very important key factors that would no doubt make very large ripples into the coming battles. Of these things, the first was the heavy hitters of each country, the two largest ones being Orochimaru, the leader and acting 'Kage' of Oto, and the unknown entity that was Taki's Jinchuriki. Intelligence on her was slim, all they knew for sure was that it was a woman with minty green hair. They had nothing else on her, nothing about her abilities, nothing on her control over her Bijuu, absolutely nothing, and that was unsettling, to say the least. Luckily, Kusa's leader was nothing more than an A-Rank at best, and Konoha had plenty of shinobi who could deal with that level of enemy.

This war would be over soon, if they played their cards right, which is why the Captains of the Fourth, Seventh, and Twelfth Divisions were there. Each of them would be leading a scouting party to the border and as far inside as they deemed fit to travel under safe and secure conditions to get a baseline on the enemy and to hold a front until the main force could arrive, when the war would begin in earnest. Lynx himself was leading seven other members of his division to the border that Takigakure and Konohagakure shared, and he was looking forward to it. He had sworn to avenge his Otōto, and the best way to do that was winning this fucking war.

He couldn't wait to remind everyone why the Leaf was the strongest of the Hidden Villages.

* * *

Eight shadows danced through the trees like bats in the moonlight, moving from branch to branch, leaving not a leaf out of place as they moved along. The advance party had passed the Taki/Konoha border several hours ago, and had made it many miles into the country in the few hours they had been there, stopping at the edge of the forest and the beginning of the many cave and waterfall complex's that made up the hidden entrance to Taki itself.

Landing on the ground, Lynx held up a hand, before signing his instructions out to his squad, having four of them secure a border while the other four created the grounds for their encampment and the defensive positions required. He himself had already created a mass of Kage Bunshin whose sole purpose was reconnaissance, and they were sent out immediately, heading out in all directions. He didn't have to wait long on his men, they were professionals, after all. The fighting positions and encampment was created with haste, but that didn't mean that they sacrificed quality for speed. Their position was entrenched quite adequately, provide all-around security and several overlapping fields of fire, as well as defensive positions and fallback points, with a command and control center already set up inside the borders of the forward operating base. Lynx was quite pleased with the work his men had done, though he wouldn't praise them, that just wasn't how the Seventh Division flowed.

As his Lieutenant, Badger briefly talked with him and briefed him on the situation, Lynx and his squad settled in for the next several days, ready to watch and wait, and if necessary, fight. He instructed Badger to set the agents into a rotation that always had two men on watch, allowing the others to rest, but made it quite clear that he wanted light and noise discipline, if the ninja of Taki didn't already know that they were there, they soon would, and as much as Lynx was hankering for a fight, he refused to sacrifice his men like that. That was the epitome of a bad commander, and for all of his faults, Lynx was a leader.

He hadn't been a natural born one, like his father had. It had taken him years to cultivate his image for his men, building and building upon their respect for him, and changing from the hot headed initiate he had once started out as, to the cold and calculating form that fit his moniker perfectly as a predator. Lynx was an animal, and he protected his pride viciously. He had earned the respect of his subordinates and superiors alike through his tenacity, determination, and loyalty. From the lowest initiate to even his Lieutenant, every man in Lynx's division knew that he would never ask of them something he wasn't willing to do himself.

It was for that very reason, that when Lynx had assembled his division and asked for eight volunteers, the entire division had stepped forward, their trust was so absolute in their trust of their Captain. He was a god to them, and played judge, jury, and executioner as such, leading his men with distinction and pride. He had ender up picking seven members in a controlled manner, already knowing who he wanted to he could fight a defensive position, and Badger was coming regardless as his second in command. He was required to for a mission like this, for should something happen to indispose of the Captain, he was the one who would take charge.

Such was the trust that was built in the Black Ops Divisions, their conviction in each other so absolute and complete that none of them even knew who the other was under the mask, though every so often they were able to tell by a distinguishing factor what clan they were from. The members of ANBU lived and died by their animal titles, and they would have it no other way. Such was the way of it all. And it only furthered to hammer the point home that when Lynx had battle the deranged Shimura Danzo, his mask being shattered in the process, none of the members of his Division had gazed upon his face, honoring his identity and looking only upon the man's chest as he fought. They were all men and women of honor that trusted, fought for, and would happily die for each other, all without knowing the true name of the man beside him.

Few could be so lucky.

Lynx was pulled from his musings by Badger entering the makeshift Command Centre, a raven on his arm and a letter in his hand. "Taichou, this just arrived." He stated, ever the clear and concise man, as he handed the letter to his Captain, stroking the bird lightly to keep it calm as Lynx first decoded, and then read the letter, his eyes widening, and then immediately narrowing as he read the letter a second time, just to be sure what he had read was accurate. There wasn't any way this could be some sort of sick joke, and it was sickening in every sense of the word. Lynx burned the paper to ash in his hands, the small flicker of fire falling between his fingers as the letter burned.

Lynx looked up, addressing his Lieutenant directly, as he scribbled out a letter and handed it to him. Watching as he attached it to the raven before sending it back the way it came. "Badger. I'm leaving you with operational command. You know the details of this mission, do _not_ let me down. I am to return to Konoha immediately. The Hokage has been killed." And with that, Lynx was off, taking to the trees, determined to make the typically four day trip in less than half the time.

There had been an unsanctioned attack on _his_ village, and in the resulting attack the Hokage himself had fallen. Konoha was in a temporary leadership vacuum, and a war was about to begin. Things just kept getting better and better.

* * *

It had taken Lynx two days and three soldier pills to make it back to Konoha, running day and night, not stopping the entire time. It would have been a great testament to his abilities, had the situation not been so dire. He cursed to himself when he saw the gates of his village on the eve of the third day, just as the sun was setting. He had cut the time of his return in half, but it was still too long in his opinion. Lynx made a mental note to spend more time practicing on the Hiraishin: Second Step he had been working on, more specifically the ability to flash to one of his seals over an excessively long distance without killing himself from overconsumption of chakra.

As he was now, the longer the distance of the flash, the more chakra he used up. He had only mastered the technique to the some extent, getting himself to the point than any sort of flash under the distance of one mile didn't barely registered taking from his large lake of a chakra supply, but anything over that distance began to tax on his reserves, the amount required growing exponentially as the distance increased. One day, if he had the time, he'd like to master the ability to the point that he could flash between countries, though he doubted that it would ever happen, especially with the way things were headed.

Lynx had gone straight to the Hokage tower upon his arrival for his debrief, wondering why he had been recalled. Sure, this was horrible news, but it was also somewhat dated he had come to find out. The attack had occurred the day after he had left, once he and two of the other Captains were far enough out of range to not have been any help even had they known of the attack. It had taken the messenger raven a single day to reach his position, having left Konoha a mere three days after the sneak attack that claimed the old Sandaime's life, and then after that it had taken him two days to return, meaning that the attack itself had happened nearly a week ago, and any tracks left had likely gone cold.

Lynx had been initially surprised when he learned what had happened from Jiraiya upon his return to the village, though he guessed he really shouldn't have been when he considered who all was involved in the war. It appeared that a certain snake Sannin had infiltrated the Konohagakure, being let in the metaphorical front door by one Yakushi Kabuto, who lad literally summoned the man himself to the village, along with four of his subordinates, Kabuto fleeing the scene immediately afterwards. The four men and one woman had then assaulted the Hokage Tower itself, Orochimaru's subordinates using the same four flaming pillars technique to blockade the building and all inside, preventing any in the village from assisting in the fight. All the patrons of the tower at the time had been slaughtered mercilessly by the rogue ninja.

And that is where details began to become a little distorted, as stories began to vary. Some of the ANBU that had immediately rushed to the scene claimed they had witnessed the bodies of the Shodai and Niidaime Hokage's appear, and with Orochimaru in toe they had fought the Sandaime until a large forest had grown inside the barrier, blocking all view from the outside. The barrier had fallen sometime later, though all members of the attacking force had gotten away seemingly unscathed, leaving the Hokage to die on the rooftop.

The old man had fought valiantly up until the very last waning moments of his life, but facing not only his wayward student, but the forms of his predecessors had been entirely too much for the wrinkled and brittle Hokage to bear, and it hadn't taken long for the man to fall by their hands. When you considered everything, it unfortunately wasn't surprising. The man was simply past his prime, and no amount of personal pride could have saved him when facing the two legendary Senju brothers.

Lynx sighed to himself as he stood upon his roof, contemplating everything that had happened, before he shrugged. While he was certainly upset over the old man's death, he was finding he wasn't as upset over it as he had been for the Sandaime's grandson. That isn't to say that he didn't care, because he definitely, was upset about it. The kindly Hokage had never shown him anything but kindness as far as he could remember, and he had always appeared to try and run the village with a fair and just hand, his own personal case excluded. However, the two of them had never been particularly close, preferring to live by the superior/subordinate standard set before both of them by their predecessors. This had gone double for him, being in the ANBU Corps, as he would never he his Hokage as anything other than his absolute leader. Of course, it didn't help to ease his heart that he had missed the man's massive funeral, the somber event taking place the day before his arrival.

The following events had been hard, but at the same time, predictable. The village lacked a leader, just like it lad just under twenty years ago, and now, with an inevitable war on the horizon, it was necessary to have one, now more than ever. The obvious choice had been to offer the position to the Toad Sage, seeing as how he was easily the most powerful shinobi in the village, bar none. However, the man had politely refused, stating that he simply didn't have the strategic mindset for it. The next likely choice had been Senju Tsunade, but that idea was quickly shot down, for though she was no doubt powerful, she hadn't set foot in Konoha in decades, and there was no what that the village would allow themselves to be led by someone who had abandoned them, even going to far as to refuse to return home in the wake of the Kyuubi attack, no it simply wouldn't do. So they had gone with the next likely choice.

Hatake Kakashi. The man was an extremely capable shinobi in his own right, and had the experience to match his raw skill. He had been an extremely capable ANBU Captain, leading the Second Division for many years, having additionally fought in the Third Shinobi World War, had taught a team of Genin that contained the prodigy of his year, Uchiha Sasuke, and had been the student of the Yondaime, as well as training with Jiraiya himself from time to time. The man had at first been against it, but after a short talk with Jiraiya, he had relented, reluctantly taking the position the day after the Hokage's funeral, though he refused to have a large ceremony depicting his promotion, and het yet to officially don the robes. What was important was that the village had a strong and capable leader, and really it didn't matter what Lynx had thought of the man. He took his orders directly from the Hokage, be it as a normal ninja or an ANBU. The Hokage's authority was absolute, and this wasn't a democracy.

Lynx stretched briefly, before flashing inside his home, taking his mask off as he cleared his mind. It was a waste of salt crying over things that he couldn't change, so he resolved to deal with it all tomorrow. Naruto had a meeting with the Hokage first thing in the morning concerning the war effort, and he had been advised to get a lot of rest tonight, and he honestly felt really compelled to do just that. He had just run the equivalent of a four to five day's journey in just under two, so he was understandably exhausted.

As Naruto walked into his room, dropping his armor unceremoniously on the floor, he was greeted by the sight of his fiery-redheaded lover, laying on the bed, curled up and latching onto the pillow in a death grip. He smiled sadly to himself. The blonde loved seeing her like this, dressed in nothing but one of his oversized t-shirts and a pair of her panties, which was lucky considering it was her chosen sleepwear. As he changed into his own version of the same, a simple pair of black sweats he made a promise to himself that he would enjoy every moment he could with his sexy little kunoichi, for he knew because of the budding war that he would constantly be pulled away, unable to see or hold her as much as he wanted or needed to. Finished dressing Naruto considered using a rapid substitution to replace himself with her pillow, but opted against it, deciding to instead lift up the covers, and after a small chuckle watching the shorter girl curl up at the change in temperature, he crawled under the covers with her, wrapping his arm over her.

He simled a soft and genuine smile as he felt her push herself back against him, even in her sleep she wanted to be near his warmth, and the blonde captain happily tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer to him. Naruto sighed, taking a long whiff of her scent as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting his hot breath roll across her shoulder as he briefly lifted his head to kiss her gently on the cheek, whispering into her ear before he let his head fall to the pillow laid below his head, asleep before his eyes had finished closing.

"I'm home, Red."

* * *

For the first time since his mission to Chinbaku, Naruto was having a fully peaceful slumber. The man wasn't even dreaming, sleeping in the blissfulness that was a completely and uneventful sleep. Or at least, he was, until he was woken up by the strange sensation of something pressing down upon his stomach, and a pressure, though pleasant upon his lips. The feeling of pleasure was gone soon though, followed by one of mild, yet enjoyable pain, which finally caused him to waken from his slumber, and as he blinked his eyes slowly, adjusting them to the light of day he was greeted by the red hair of Tayuya cascading around his face, her teeth sticking out in a playful manner as she bit his bottom lip, pulling it out ever so far as he locked eyes with her, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"G' Mornin', Shithead." The foul mouthed woman managed to get out, somehow with his teeth still gently clenched around his lip. Naruto managed to catch her unprepared as he leaned up, reaching an arm around her to pull her head down to him, the two coming together in a searing kiss that left both parties chanced for breath. The blonde shinobi leaned back down, pulling the girl with him as she halfheartedly resisted, though she still ended up with her head on his chest, one of her hands absent mindedly tracing the scars that adorned his upper body as he simply held her ad watched her, nothing but content in that moment.

"I missed you, you know." He said suddenly, closing his eyes and leaning back enjoying the sensations and feelings that once can only get by being close to the one they love. Tayuya looked up at her caretaker, the man who she had come to view as her savior from Oto, despite the way it had happened, and smirked as she crossed one of her legs over his, intertwining them as her left hand trailed along his arm before coming into contact with his hand, which he promptly grasped, latching his hand around hers, rubbing her palm softly with his thumb, causing the teen girl to smile, knowing that he could have no way of knowing just how much he meant to her.

"Shut up. I'm still mad at you for leaving without saying goodbye." Tayuya teased, trying and failing to keep her 'tough' façade around him. There was just something about the blonde that made her feel different. In Oto, she was treated as just another soldier at best, and at worst, a 'toy' to be used and discarded. Horrid things had happened to her it Oto, terrible things that had broken her spirit in more ways than one. But Naruto had taken her in, despite her attitude towards him. He'd shown her, for all intents and purposes an enemy, compassion, grace, and kindness beyond measure. When she had finally broke down and told him about the atrocities committed against her in Oto, about the beatings, the rapes, the torture, he had simply held her, not ever saying a word. All of her troubles melted away around the blonde who'd given her a home, and before she'd known it she had found herself head over heels in love with him, though she'd be damned if she said the words first. It _was_ still a competition, whether her lover knew about it or not.

"Pfft, whatever. You're not mad. You know I'll always come back to you, Red." Naruto cracked an eye at her, giving her a small wink before he quickly rolled them over, grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head, grinning slyly as he noticed her (His) shirt stretching up above her navel, an idea forming in his mind as he looked over her slim waist, his trademarked mischievous twinkle in his eye. Before she could react, Naruto had created a clone that moved above her, grabbing her wrists as the original lowered his head and kissed her deeply on the lips, his tongue probing her mouth as she smirked into it. After than he began trailing kisses down her jawline, then onto her collarbone, before he raised her shirt to just under her breasts, abruptly moving his head to just above her navel as he looked up and grinned at her.

Tayuya's eyes widened in horror, realization dawning across her lightly tanned face as she stammered out a protest and struggled but it was to no avail, for with one Naruto holding her arms and another one sitting on her legs, she was defenseless. "Shithead I swear to Kami if you do what I think you're gonna do I will-"she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the blonde rapidly forced his mouth onto her toned stomach, blow the biggest and most obnoxious raspberry he could muster, his eyes only slightly widening in shock as he felt his clone dispel before he was launched across the room, a blur of red hair following soon after.

As he was getting beaten to within an inch of his life, nursed back to health, and then beaten again by his "loving" girlfriend, Naruto couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be able to finally blow off a little steam, especially with all that was happening and that had already happened recently. They both had desperately needed this, and he had a sinking feeling that things were only going to get harder from here on out.

The Captain of the Seventh Division had no idea how true that thought would be in the months to come.

* * *

Lynx stood in front of his new Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, and for a second he couldn't quite believe his ears. The man stood stock still, breaking his usually stoic and calm outside as he looked slightly to his right, at the large broad frame of the Toad Sage leaning against the wall, who merely nodded. Was this really happening? After all he had done? All of his service and just like that, without so much as a warning, this was going on? He wanted to refuse the order so badly, but he held himself back. The Hokage was the supreme order, and if he was ordering him to do it, then it was necessary, but even then he was unable to stop himself from the small outburst that slipped through his lips.

"Can you repeat the order, Hokage-Same?" Kakashi sighed. This was to be expected, really. A lot of ANBU were this way when they were phased out of the program, himself included. He hadn't wanted to leave the way of life he had known for so long either, but he had been ordered out after several years of hard service in the black ops division. It had ultimately been good for him, but at the time he was angry. He had been good at his job and they were making him quit, and if Kakashi was anything, he wasn't a quitter. So he sighed softly to himself, once he explained why this was important, the Captain in front of him would likely be more cooperative, but first he had to get him to take off the mask.

"You heard the order correctly, Lynx. Remove your mask, and place it on the desk. You've done your village proud and served faithfully, but it is time to leave the shadows to serve in the light… Naruto." Lynx began to sweat slightly, the Seventh Division had been his life and blood for over five years, but the Hokage… the Hokage was absolute. He followed orders. He was a shinobi, the sword of his leader, the shield of his people. If he was being ordered to do this, there had to be a reason to it. With that logic in mind, Lynx reached up, grasping his face and pulling it off, unclasping the restraining straps, and speaking for the last time in the clipped metallic tone that was uniform of all ANBU as he placed the face he had come to call his own on the Hokage's desk, the visage of a large, predatory cat staring back up at him. There was no going back now. His identity had been compromised the moment that Kakashi had said his true name aloud.

"Understood, Hokage-Sama. Now that I've been compromised, do you at least mind telling me _why_ you've decided to take me from my men?" Naruto growled out, but managed to keep a respectful tone, he was talking to his new leader, after all. Beside that fact, Kakashi had earned his respect from the few times he had worked with the man, a cold and calculating professional in the field, like himself. Kakashi, actually pretty happy that the phasing out of the ANBU had gone so smoothly, actually let out one of his trademarked eye-smiles as he sat behind the desk that he himself didn't know if he was just to sit at, before beginning his explanation.

"Naruto, as you are very well aware, we are on the eve of war with not one, but three hostile countries. Now, while we have an admirable cause to go to war, to avenge the deaths of our comrades and Hokage, those ideals will only last so long in the eyes of the public, before they begin to lose interest and start to want to pull out before we've finished what they started. You with me so far?" The Godaime Hokage paused, and seeing the blondes nod, he continued.

"In every war that has ever been fought, the winning army had an ideal to rally behind, that ideal often taking the place of a hero on the battlefield. During the founding of Konoha, it was Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. The second shinobi world war had the Niidaime Hokage up until the time of his sacrifice, when the late Sandaime took over the charge. The third shinobi world war had your father, the Yellow Flash. And this for this war, it's going to be you. Congratulations!" The Godaime finished, flipping open his Icha-Icha book and skimming the pages with his eye-smile never leaving his face.

Naruto was dumbstruck. This…this was a lot to take in. His new Hokage wanted to more or less make him a figurehead to rally behind to win the coming war, and while he wasn't sure he liked it, he would trust in his new Hokage. He had let the man watch his back in the field, and there was no higher trust than sleeping in a foxhole with another man, and laying your life in their hands. He looked over to Jiraiya, who merely nodded, giving the blonde his approval.

"It would be my honor, Hokage-Sama."

* * *

Tayuya sat on the couch in Naruto's home, fidgeting with herself. While she was glad to have her blonde goofball back, there was a talk that she _needed_ to have with him that she was positive that he wouldn't be happy with. She sighed to herself, looking down at her hands, the hand of which had been powerless to stop the recent injustice against her home, the hands of a kunoichi who had failed to act in the defense of her village, of the home of the man she was in love with, and struggled to bite back tears. She had to come clean on this.

Kami, what was happening to her? Before she would have had no problem lying to her captors, and after a little over a year in Konoha and a similar timeframe of spending time with Naruto, simply not telling him something killed her on the inside. She didn't have too much time to glower on it, though, as she noticed the trademark blue flash of her boyfriend appearing in the other room. She waited until he walked into the living room, and she immediately noticed something was on his mind, such was their connection, she could see it on his face- that was it! His face! He was still in his ANBU Uniform, but the Lynx mask that had been his moniker was missing.

The redhead steeled herself before she approached the blonde, standing at arm's length, surprise evident on his face that she wasn't greeting him or welcoming him home as she had come to usually do. Tayuya blinked back the small tear that threated to form in her eye as she began to speak, crossing her arms across her chest. Fuck, she hated being like this? Why couldn't she just man up and be herself around him? Why did he make her somehow feel like the most confident woman in the world, but still have the same butterflies in her stomach from the first time they had sex?

"Shithead…We need to talk.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The War Arc Has Begun! A LOT happened this chapter, but all of it was necessary. I'm trying to illustrate just how quickly things can happen. Take WW1 for example. A fuckin' Archduke of all people was assassinated, and a week later we had a World War. For those of you upset that I've been killing off characters left and right, relax. The death of the Sandaime was necessary for the plot to advance, and there won't be any *major* characters that die for a little while. Now I'm going to apologize for how sad the funeral portion of this chapter was. I just finished watching the last season of the amazing show that is 'How I Met Your Mother' and for those of you that have seen it, the ending makes me tear up like a little bitch, and I used it to help fuel this chapter. Last thing I got for you guys, 'Immortalized' has passed 8K views! Holy shit guys. That's badass. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	12. Taking Sides

**What's up and welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! Time is flying as we're already on the 12** **th** **Chapter! As always, thanks to all you out there who not only read my work, but take the time to leave a quick review. You guys are doing an outstanding job of helping me improve my writing, and I really appreciate it. You guys are the best. Onto the chapter!**

 **One last thing. It fills me with so much happiness to say this, you don't even know. The views for this page…they're OVER 9,000!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Taking Sides**

* * *

"Shithead, we need to talk."

With those words, Tayuya had captivated Naruto's attention completely. In the time that the two had known each other, the former ANBU Captain and the redheaded kunoichi had learned a lot from and about each other, so much so in fact, that they had even begun to learn the intricacies of each other's minds. With as close as the couple was, it was only natural, and unknown to each other, each one had been keeping a rather large secret from the other, their final defense.

That was about to change, though. In light of all of the recent events, the former Oto Kunoichi had finally decided to reveal the last of her secrets to the blonde. She knew that she trusted him completely, and regardless of whether or not she would admit it to herself, Tayuya loved him. The shinobi who had originally been her captor, had become her closest confidant and most trusted friend. He had held the hot blooded woman while she cried, had hoisted her fist when she won, and he had shown her compassion and kindness when nothing was required of him, continuing to meet with her while she had been a prisoner long after he had been required to. Naruto was the whole reason that she was even alive, able to live her own life in Konoha, and he had even go so far as to remove the curse mark her former _Leader_ had so graciously put on her, a feat not even Jiraiya had been able to achieve.

"Tayuya, let me change out of this. Then I'll listen to whatever you have to say, alright?" The foul-mouthed kunoichi was shaken from her thoughts when the object of her affection spoke, and after she gave him a quick nod, he left the room in a slightly subdued walk as he headed off to change out of his "Old" ANBU Uniform (That he now technically wasn't even allowed to wear, considering he was no longer in the Corps.) Tayuya turned and took a seat on the large couch, and in one of her few uncharacteristically patient moments, she waited for her boyfriend to return. She wasn't waiting for long though, as soon after she had sat down, the blonde walked down the stairs, dressed in a simple pair of black sweats and a green tank top, and as he walked around the couch itself to take a seat next to the redhead, she noticed that his left shoulder no longer had the standard tattoo of an Agent.

Instead, the shoulder and bicep he had once proudly bore the title on was laid bare, as if he had never even been in the organization. While he understood why it was this way, to protect the secrecy of the group and the identities of its members, it was still a painful and hard task, walking away from the group he had been a member of for so long and so diligently. Naruto had gone through a rapid change, and his return into the normal Shinobi forces of Konoha wasn't looking like it was going to be a smooth one. But all this could wait, he thought to himself, all of his musings flashing through his head in a matter of seconds as he changed and walked towards his girlfriend, taking in her form as he moved towards her, ready to listen to whatever she need to get off of her chest.

The woman in question was looking up at him, her usually dark chocolate eyes already slightly cloudy as she scooted over on the sofa, making room for her blonde counterpart. Currently, as she steeled herself for what was to come, she was wearing nothing but one of Naruto's large gray t-shirts (she _knew_ her boyfriend loved seeing them on her, and they were quite comfortable, in her opinion), and a pair of her own form fitting tight black shorts. The blonde raised an eyebrow slightly as he sat next to her, his arms automatically finding their way around her as he leaned back, pulling her with him, the redheads back pressed into his chest, her hear just off to the right of his own, his arms around her waist as her own rested on top of them, playing with his hands.

Tayuya breathed in and out deeply as she traced the lines along the blonde's hands, feeling every inch and contour of them as she squeezed them gently, just enjoying the feeling of her being in his arms. She'd never tell anyone else, such was the redhead's outlook on life and interaction with others, but she lived for the moments like these, when both were off from missions and could simply just _be_ with each other. She sighed softly to herself. It was time. She leaned over to her left, pulling Naruto into a chaste kiss that left her heart in flutters as she began talking, spilling her guts to the blonde behind her, and hoping for the best.

* * *

 _Flashback-Tayuya_

 _The redheaded woman felt the explosion before she saw it, and out of curiosity had walked over to the window of the bedroom she shared with Naruto, looking out of it into the early morning air, and gasping in a brief moment of recognition, followed by fear, and then anger, and then most surprisingly, concern. Before her was the iconic Hokage Tower, and while it was billowing smoke, missing sections of its infrastructure, and quite literally quaking, the most notable difference from the normally quiet tower was the four large walls of violet flame that had exploded from the top. Tayuya would have recognized that technique anywhere, she had originally been one of the four corners of it, after all._

 _Before she even registered what she was doing, the woman had changed into her ninja gear, wearing something quite different from what she had during her time in Oto, and was out the window, speeding towards the barrier. Like most kunoichi, she wore standardized black combat sandals, choosing to keep her feet bare, having only a small amount of bandages wrapping her ankles for support. Moving up past her long slender legs was a pair of tight black spandex shorts, with a brown combat skirt that had a slit up the center over it, stopping at her mid-thigh. The skirt was held up by a thin combat styled black belt that had been custom made (per order of Naruto) to have a specially designed holster for her Flute, as well as the normal pouches for her shuriken and kunai. Her upper body was clothed in a looser fitting gray half-sleeved shirt, slightly reminiscent of the one she had worn in Oto, but smaller, and with a black compression shirt on underneath. Her hair was held in its usual state by the Konoha Hitai-Ite that she proudly wore in honor of her new village._

 _However, the barrier itself was quite some ways off, and as she was closing with it, only a few streets away, it collapsed, before five figures exited in separate directions. Tayuya didn't even need to think as she changed her direction, running on autopilot as she switched directions, homing in on her target, the familiar chakra signature all the confirmation that she needed to push herself forward, channeling her own chakra to he feet as she sped along, soon gaining ground on her prey just outside the gates of her home. Then, all too suddenly the chase stopped, target and pursuit coming to a halt in a small clearing, and Tayuya stared into the dark eyes of her older sister for the first time in nearly two years._

" _Tayuya. You're looking well. How's Konoha treating you since you betrayed Oto, since you betrayed me?" The purple haired kunoichi sneered, cocking her head to the side, glaring at the younger woman, and growling as she took in the woman's appearance. "How dare you even look at me, especially wearing…that!" The woman practically spat, her face contorting in anger as she pointed at Tayuya's Hitai-Ite. The woman was seething, her body practically shaking within the light green dress that she wore, her right hand clenching tightly around the thick rope that served as a belt._

 _Tayuya, was doing her best to hold back tears. Her sister, Guren, her own flesh and blood, was calling her nothing but a traitor, and in reality, it was true. She may have betrayed the horrible person that was Orochimaru, but nonetheless, she was a turncoat. In those brief few words, Guren had destroyed her resolve to attempt to bring her in to the fold. Being the only other person she cared about in the world besides Naruto, Guren had a great deal of power of the fiery tempered redhead. However, being in the constant company of a man who had the resolve to shake a mountain had also served to strengthen her._

" _Shut the fuck up, Guren. You don't know a fuckin thing. They_ respect _me here. People_ care _for me, here, I have friends, even." Tayuya paused, looking into her the last living member of her families' dark irises as she walked slowly forwards, coming face to face with her before reaching out to touch her shoulder, not failing to notice the woman's visible flinch as she pulled away, the redhead's hand hanging briefly in the air before she resumed speaking, softly this time. "There could be a place for you here too. I know a guy, he can get you in safely, even protect you from_ him _and-"Tayuya was interrupted as her outstretched hand was slapped away, before she was roughly shoved back by Guren, a dark look in her eye._

" _And why the fuck would I want protection from Orochimaru-Sama? You stupid bitch, I'm the next vessel. I get that honor. And_ nothing _is going to take that away from me. Not you, not that bastard ANBU you've been fucking, and certainly not the old fuck that Orochimaru-Sama just killed. You're dead to me, Leaf-Whore. You died the moment you never tried to come back." And before she could respond, the purple haired kunoichi of Oto shattered into a thousand shards of pink crystal, Tayuya instantly recognizing the "Shōton: Shōto Bunshin (Crystal Release: Crystal Clone) technique that her sister had inherited from their mothers Kekkie Genkai (Bloodline Limit). For whatever reason though, only Guren had gained the ability to utilize the release._

" _Fuck you too, then! You didn't do shit for me in Oto! You stood by and fuckin' watched as that bastard put his seal on me, you watched when I was weak and those assholes fucking raped me! Don't even try and take the high ground on this now that I've found somewhere I'm happy!" When she finished, Tayuya stood up, and watched the silent forest around her for a few moments, before heading back to Konoha to Naruto's house, wanting nothing more than to cry. She did her damndest to hide it, but what her Sister had screamed at her hurt. No one could kill their emotions, and no matter what, Guren was her family, no matter how twisted she had become._

 _The redhead never acknowledged the tear that fell from her eye as she ran._

 _End Flashback-Tayuya_

* * *

Tayuya finished her story in a soft monotone voice, taking small solace in the fact that blonde's muscled arms only tightened around her waist, pulling her closer into his body as they laid on the small couch. "And that's it. I came back here, and found out that the Hokage had been fuckin' killed, the tower blown to shit, and everything going to hell. And then you came back after a couple of days and now there's going to be a war an-mmph!" The brown eyed beauty was cut off from her sentence as Naruto turned her in his arms, connecting his lips to those of _his_ redhead's, effectively silencing her.

The blonde former ANBU smirked a little bit when he felt the girl melt into his arms, her inhibitions about telling him about her sister's part in the attack quickly falling away through his actions. If Naruto was concerned with the change, he hadn't shown it, simply allowing the redhead to talk until she began to ramble at the end. There was no sense in worrying over something that hadn't happened yet, and the blonde felt it was his job to comfort the girl, even if she didn't ask for it.

He pulled away slowly, opening his eyes to gaze into her own with his cerulean orbs, taking in every aspect of her expression of confusion and surprise, eyes still half lidded from the soul searing kiss he had just bestowed upon her, and committing it to memory. Naruto breathed softly, his breath dusting her parted lips as he reached a hand up to gently push a stray strand of hair behind her ear, before she leaned up and gave him a quick brush of her lips against his own, almost like a signature to their longer kiss, as she pulled away and settled back into his arms, and waited for the blonde to speak, for now just content to lie in his arms.

"Tayuya, while we're sharing, there's something I have to tell you, too." The redhead leaned up from the blonde's chest, turning to look him in the eye, giving an inquisitive look as he sighed, apparently fortifying his resolve, as he finished. "I'm pregnant, it's yours." The blonde had barely gotten the words out before an annoyed and laughing Tayuya was punching him in the chest and arm, the man raising his arms to defend himself, inwardly pleased that he was able to lighten the mood and get the woman's thoughts to be a little more uplifted. He let her go until she tired herself out a little bit, before pulling her back down to lie with him as he legitimately strengthened his true resolve, sighing to himself, before metaphorically throwing all his cards on the table. "Actually, there is something I've been meaning to tell you, and I'd rather you hear it from me than someone else."

The redhead raised an eyebrow from her position on the blondes chest, not bothering to turn over this time, simply pulling his hand up, an beginning to trace the contours of it once again, tracing the veins and lines wherever they traveled. "Well, spit it out, Shithead. As much as I _love_ sitting here talking, we could be doing _something else_ …" She began, pushing her ass into him and wiggling slightly, feeling the reaction below her and grinning mischievously as she slightly bit her lip, hearing the man groan out softly in pleasure.

Naruto smirked, he loved it when she was like this, and while the sex was phenomenal and he greatly enjoyed it, there was something he actually needed to get off his chest. "Maybe later, Red." He joked, hearing her soft 'huff' of annoyance at his chosen nickname for her, or his withholding of sex, he didn't know which, before he finished.

"Just over sixteen years ago, the Bijuu known as the Kyuubi no Kit-"

"Kitsune attacked the village, your Dad fucked it up, and beat its ass into your stomach and the rest is history. I already knew, Shithead." Tayuya said simply, after interrupting the blonde as she scooted a little deeper into the crook of his arm. She looked over her shoulder slightly, catching his eye and couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the look on his face. The usually unfazed shinobi was staring at her, his mouth opening and closing dumbly, no words forming from his lips. "The old fart that was the last Hokage told me I came to live with you, Shithead. Something about "keeping each other in line" or something."

The blonde finally regained control of himself, closing his mouth and fixing his girlfriend with an appraising eye as she lowered herself back down to cuddle with him in the early evening air. The redhead in his arms grinned slyly as she laid there, all of the couples recent troubles laid bare. An idea began to form in the woman's mind as she let her partner hold her there on the couch. The war would be beginning in earnest in a mere few days, and with Naruto playing a pivotal role in it and her being an official Konoha Shinobi, it was guaranteed that they would both be on the front often, and would likely go long periods of time without seeing each other. As much as the redhead loved being held by _her_ Naruto (She idly noted that she liked the sound of that), but there was something much more fun that she would rather be doing, and if her suspicions were correct, they soon wouldn't have very much time to be alone together anyways, so she may as well make the most of it.

Tayuya began to slowly grind her hips back and forth against the blond she was cuddling with, grinning from ear to ear as she felt her motions begin to elicit a response from him, namely in his arms slightly tightening around her waist and the length that began to grow behind her. The former ANBU Captain let out a low growl, right next to the girl's ear as she continued pressing herself back a little harder than before, loving the sheer _rush_ she got from hearing him like this.

Naruto, not ever to one to just sit back and let things happen though, began actions of his own, leaning his head forward and kissing along his girlfriend's jawline, and down her neck, biting gently at the juncture between the redheads neck and shoulder, and smiling as he felt her shudder in his arms. Tayuya's arms reached up behind her, finding the blondes hair as she pulled him into a fierce kiss, the blonde pulling back when he needed air, the girl grabbing hold of his bottom lip between her teeth, smirking.

The blonde shinobi, still thinking somewhat clearly through the haze that was beginning to cloud his mid, broke free of the redhead, standing up and picking his girl up in his arms, flashing them both to the Hiraishin seal in his bedroom, unceremoniously throwing Tayuya onto the bed, before relieving himself of his shirt and climbing onto it as well, forcing the woman who had begun to sit up onto her back as his hands began to roam her body, her hands upon his chest as he did so, their smiles never wavering the entire time.

It wasn't long before the two lost themselves to their passions, each one attempting to show the other through purely physical contact how much they cared for the other.

* * *

Naruto was awoken from his sleep by a tapping at his window. Opening his eyes slowly and adjusting them to the dark, the newly minted Jounin of Konohagakure blinked slowly before raising himself slightly and turning his head to look at the offending noise, frowning as his fears had been confirmed. There in the windowsill was an ANBU, Panther, if his mask was anything to go off of. Making eye contact with the man, he watched as the agent placed a scroll onto the windowsill before vanishing in a shunshin. Sighing to himself, Naruto looked down at the sleeping form of Tayuya, her beautiful body rising and falling with her breaths, her head still resting on his chest as they had fallen asleep soon after the previous night's activities.

The woke shinobi hated this. He absolutely hated himself as he disentangled himself from her body, not neglecting to take a quick, mental snapshot of her naked body under the covers. He sighed as he stood up, walking to the window and not bothering to hide his modesty due to the late, or was it early, nature of the morning. He knew no one else would be awake, so he didn't care in the slightest. That is, he didn't care until he opened the window to retrieve the scroll, the cool night air splashing like waves across his body, his now shrinking manhood included. Cursing softly, he closed the window, before moving back towards the bed, sitting down on it as he began to read.

He was about halfway through the scroll, his thoughts completely focused upon it when the soft voice of Tayuya found his ears as she sat up, sitting behind him. The redhead wrapped her arms around his body as she pressed her chest up against his back, her still sleepy eyes shut as she laid her head upon one of the blonde's broad shoulders, her hair falling around her shoulders and back like a maroon waterfall. "What's going on, Shithead?"

"There's been an attack. A large Kusa force broke through the garrison we had near the border, and pushed them back a good way. I'm to lead a force there, and turn the tide, pushing them back to the town of Tenzikii." The blonde let out softly, one of his hands finding its way behind him to one of his girlfriend's smooth legs, stroking it gently as he continued to read the orders and information that was sent to him.

"The Hokage issued a return order for Senju Tsunade, 'The Legendary Sucker' and outstanding medic of the Sannin. He's sent Jiraiya to find her, under threat of making her an S-Class missing Nin if she refuses." The blonde whistled softly, he was _very_ happy he wouldn't be tagging along for that one. "The group I'm to lead is of a few Chunin, we're to be an immediate response force for this attack, with the reserve unit following in a few days. Looks like they're all some old friends of mine from my year at the academy a while back. It says here it's "Team Seven", the Hokage's old unit. Members are Uchiha Sasuke, a brooding dick back in the day, Haruno Sakura, a decent medic but otherwise nothing special, and some kid named 'Sai', says he uses something called 'Ink Jutsu', we'll see what that's about tomorrow I guess."

"You don't sound too happy about it." The redhead replied dryly as she tightened her grip on him momentarily. "When do you leave?" Naruto sighed. He didn't like this at all, he kept his voice stead as he placed the scroll down on the bed next to him, absentmindedly holding one of the girl's hands.

"An hour. The ANBU are probably out distributing the orders to the others as we speak. If we move quickly we should make contact with the enemy forces around midday tomorrow if we're lucky." The blonde raised one of his eyebrows absentmindedly as he found one of his girlfriend's hands snaking downwards, ghosting across his skin as she found her way to his member, grasping it in her hand and beginning to stroke it softly. Naruto smiled softly, leaning his head back and grunting quietly, enjoying the ministrations of his by now expert-handed lover, before gasping abruptly as the pressure on his length ceased when he was nearing his finish.

"What the fu- why'd you stop?" He blatantly questioned as he turned around, glaring halfheartedly at the redhead he had come to love, his only response a grin as she laughed coyly at him, winking as she leaned in for a chaste goodbye kiss, whispering in a quite sultry tone.

"Come back to me safely and you'll get all that and _more_ , Shithead."

* * *

The trip out from Konoha had been fairly uneventful, with only light bickering between the squad mates as they moved. Team 7 had become a well-oiled machine under the tutelage of the quite competent Hokage, and it appeared as though he hadn't neglected in their training, as the two he had known were quite different from when he had known them, with the third member rounding out the team somewhat nicely, he had to admit.

Sasuke had giving him a little bit of a problem at the beginning of their trek through Fire Country, but that had soon subsided when Naruto had unfortunately reminded the teen of his place by pulling rank. The dark haired Uchiha may not had liked him, but it didn't really matter. Naruto was the ranking Ninja, so that was that. This wasn't the time to be causing problems, and Sasuke had fallen into line, granted it was a grudging respect.

Sakura had seemed happy to see him again after such a long time apart, and while the two hadn't exactly been close friends when he had gone through the Academy, they had always been on good terms. He had found out through brief conversation that Sai had actually been one of the higher ranked members of Danzo's ROOT, though with the man's fall, Sai had been captured, and eventually released back into the normal ninja force, though he had been under supervision for a considerable amount of time.

The pale boy seemed to still be having trouble expressing himself sometimes, but it was quite apparent that he would come around, and if he knew that it was his new squad leader who had killed his old master, he either didn't hold any ill will towards him or he was very good at concealing it. All in all, the soon-to-be rallying symbol of Konoha wasn't too upset with his temporary team, and he figured that between the four of them they could probably handle anything that the attacking Kusa Nin threw at them, or in the very least hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The four man cell hadn't stopped all night moving swiftly through the Land of Fire, and it wasn't long before they would come to the position that the Kusa Nin were last known to be at. It was odd though, the last intelligence the Leaf had gotten had clearly stated that some of the members of the original friendly force had survived the initial attack and managed to retreat where they would wait for reinforcements, but so far no friendly ninja had been spotted, or any ninja, for that matter.

It was as they traveled, and this thought weighed heavily that all hell broke loose. In the short matter of a few seconds Sasuke, who had been in the lead found a Fuuma Shuriken launched at him from dead center, while a man and woman appeared to the left and right of Sakura and Sai, who had been in the middle, all three Chunin turning to fight their aggressors and only then realizing that their squad leader was gone. They didn't even have time to look for him though, as suddenly there were several copies of him on all sides, each clone taking the hit that was meant to kill one of the Konoha Nin, but not poofing out of existence until after they had managed to 'tag' each person with a Hiraishin seal.

In a rather rapid flash of blue lights, the three Konoha Chunin had found themselves transported to the ground and out of harms way, each one just as curious as the other two as to how they got there, before Naruto himself appeared before them a few moments later, wiping a bloody, three pronged kunai on the grass before turning to them. "Uhh, sorry about that. I had noticed those guys tailing us and setting this up a while back, but because I was in the rear I wasn't able to signal you without them knowing and them springing their trap earlier. The matter has been settled though, and we need to keep moving, albeit more cautiously this time. Same formation."

The team nodded, and Sasuke, having gotten a brief demonstration of his de-facto team leaders skill, while still not happy with the choice, had to admit it was impressive with the way that the blonde had reacted. Sai had taken the brief ordeal with a matter of indifference, while Sakura, ever the inquisitive mind, had questioned him and how he did it, with his only response being a joking, "It's a secret!" as the team moved along, now more than ready for combat.

* * *

Arisako Jin was bored. It had been a couple of days since he and the group of Kusa Nin he was with had made the push into Konoha, breaching their perimeter and destroying their reinforced Command Centre that had only been manned by a few members of ANBU. The agents had gone down swinging though, and while they had all eventually fallen to the sheer numbers of the Kusagakure Shinobi, they had managed to deal quite a decent bit of damage to their ranks, killing many, but not nearly enough to stop them. But that had been several days ago, and now the remaining force was just sitting around and waiting, sending out a patrol or scouting party every so often, but there was just nothing to do in the meanwhile.

Having had enough of sitting around with his friends in their cramped little tent, Jin got up, heading outside to smoke a quite smoke to try and take the edge off of all the monotony. Whistling a soft and jaunty tune to himself, Jin thrust his hands in his pockets as he walked up to one of the sentries that was guarding the camp, a man he recognized as Hirako Masaki, intent on just shooting the shit with the man and giving both of them a couple minutes of entertainment during the otherwise dreary night.

"Hey Masaki, you got a light? My lighters out of juice and I'm shit at Katon Jutsu." Jin began, standing next to the man, Masaki turning and holding out a lighter to his friend, smiling in the darkness as the two ninja began to talk, swapping a couple of stories as they smoked. "…So then after twenty minutes of Kensho nailing this girl, right, she looks up at him and says, and I shit you not man, she says 'You gonna put it in or just keep rubbing against my thigh?'" Masaki finished, both men breaking out into a fit of laughter, Jin doubling over and wheezing from the combination of that and his cigarette.

Having heard a small, muffled grunt and what sounded like coughing, Jin quickly stood up, his eyes widening as he noticed the rather odd kunai that was now sticking out of his friends throat. His cigarette falling from his mouth and the joke he had been about to tell forgotten, Jin had already begun to suck air into his lungs to raise the alarm when there was a flash of blue light, his head falling to the ground before he even knew what had happened.

Naruto knelt next to the two dead men, making sure that they were in face, dead. The other members of his squad were all in separate positions, all awaiting his signal to wipe this outpost from the map. As he created some Kage Bunshin to begin moving from tent to tent, hendged as one of the two men he had killed, to begin the silent takedown of as many people as possible before the alarm was raised, he checked his team's positions once more. Sasuke was with him, the two being the best suited for close combat and maneuver warfare, Sai was above them, circling on one of his ink birds, ready to provide mid to long range support when necessary, and Sakura hanging back, as the teams acting medic, ready to deploy aid if need be. Naruto motioned to the stoic Uchiha, and the two began moving through the compound with practiced ease, a rhythm having formed between the two in the several times that they had done this during the last couple of days.

This marked the fourth enemy encampment that they had come across, and with any luck, it would be the fourth one that they destroyed, hopefully without incident. So far, they had been lucky, with only the first camp they had come across having provided a small hiccup, but they had all come out unscathed, and in Naruto's opinion, better for it.

It had been a matter of pride that caused the mission to nearly end in disaster, and at the very beginning no less. It seemed as though a small part of the Uchiha prodigy had still been angry and jealous at Naruto for the defeat he had been given so many years prior, and during the raid, Sasuke had neglected to listen to orders, which soon led to a very large problem as he had found himself, Sai, and Sakura captured by the enemy nin when they had attempted to take it out all on their own, when Naruto had gone off to do some scouting of a nearby position.

The Uzumaki heir had returned to an empty camp, and thanks to his time in ANBU, he had soon tracked down his three wayward Chunin, in the heart of the enemy base. In what had been a cunning display of recklessness, or a genius display of strategy, Naruto had revealed himself in the center of the base, directly in view of Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura. After gaining the attention of all the ninja in the base, and gathering them into view, 'Naruto' had exploded, revealing himself to be a clone, the resulting explosion having fired his signature tri-tipped kunai all over, some even killing off guard nin. In the resulting panic he had utilized the Hiraishin to the fullest, massacring the entire enemy encampment, before returning to his team.

Afterwards, he had taken each of them aside and talked to them separately, and eventually, he took Sasuke on a short walk with him. The young avenger had been angrier at himself than Naruto (something which the blonde accredited to Kakashi, making a mental note to thank the Scarecrow for beating a sense of responsibility of actions into his subordinate), to which the blonde had told him not to worry, and that every made mistakes. He had left Sasuke for the night with a piece of advice, telling him that Itachi had always kept a level head, even when in the face of insurmountable odds. If Sasuke were to ever avenge his clan, he needed to be apathetic, for if he rushed in with blind emotion like he had tonight, he would most certainly not come out the other side.

This wasn't to say that Naruto and Sasuke were suddenly best friends after the incident, but after several more times of watching each other's back, they had built a rapport with each other. Such was the inevitability of working with someone for an extended period of time, especially in a hostile environment where trust is key. After that infraction, the rest of the operations had gone smoothly, the three Chunin and Jounin managing to make short work of their opponents, due in part largely to Sai's ability to scout the bases from an aerial view, and the large boon they gained by drawing on Naruto's ANBU experience, though none of them knew for sure where he had gained all this knowledge, such was the secretive nature of the Black Ops Division.

As he slit the throat of the last shinobi in the camp, he stood, turning to Sasuke and was about to congratulate the teen on another successful raid when his Sharingan flashed and in the blink of an eye the Uchiha Survivor had thrown a kunai with blinding speed, Naruto just barely able to move his head to the side in time, though the knife still nicked his cheek. He was on the black haired teen in a flash of blue, appearing at the Hiraishin tag he had placed on him earlier, a Rasengan already charged in his hand and inches from the boy's torso when he heard the distinct sound of a body falling behind him. Snapping his head around, he was greeted with the sight of a Kusagakure Ninja lying dead on the floor where he had been seconds before, Sasuke's kunai sticking straight out of the man's forehead.

Immediately canceling his jutsu and smiling sheepishly, Sasuke simply smirked and mutter a quick 'don't mention it' as he walked off to rejoin his comrades who were nearby. As he walked away, Naruto lightly chuckled to himself, shaking his head lightly as he followed, over to his team. Sasuke would live out the rest of his life believing he had saved Naruto, thus repaying his debt to the Blonde Jounin, never knowing that the ninja that had snuck up behind Naruto was merely a Kage Bunshin of himself, henged and overloaded with chakra so it would last until well after the team had left.

Naruto was a good team leader, after all.

* * *

All in all, the Naruto led Team Seven had taken over a grand total of six enemy outposts in the span of the week it took for the much larger relief force to meet up with them, after which they helped to set up the new Forward Command Centre, for which the main attacking force would be using. They had attributed their success to the relative low skill of the opponents they had been facing, the small number of enemies, and that they had the element of surprise, and it also helped that Naruto was quite the fearsome Ninja in his own right, but he refused to take away from a team success for personal glory.

In the wake of their complete mission, Team Seven had made a leisurely trip home arriving later in the evening after a couple of days. After passing through the gate and having a quick conversation with the two Chunin that were somehow always on gate duty, Kotetsu and Izumo (the latter of which was still convinced that the former still had his prized picture of Yugao, no matter how much he denied it), Naruto had dismissed the three Chunin to their own devices, tell them that he'd make the report to the Godaime in their stead.

His report to the Hokage had been fairly quick, and he had been ordered to the hospital the following morning, even though he insisted that he was perfectly fine. The Godaime had simply given him his trademarked eye-smile from behind his mask, not once looking up from his precious Icha-Icha the entire time the Uzumaki had been there, before he finally had disappeared in what was becoming his own trademarked flash of cobalt.

Naruto appeared in his bedroom, expecting to find Tayuya in there, maybe even waiting for him, only to find it empty. Dropping his gear, Naruto exited the room, calling the name of his beloved and walking down the stairs, still getting no response, and he soon began to check the entirety of the moderately sized house, before he eventually came to the kitchen, empty handed. Walking into the cooking area, he noticed a piece of paper on the countertop, folded in half with the word 'Shithead' eloquently written out on top of it. Idly noting that the redhead actually had pretty good handwriting, Naruto wasted no time in flipping the piece of paper open, absent mindedly creating a Kage Bunshin that began to get a small, meager meal of instant ramen together for the original as he read, a frown becoming evident as it creased his forehead.

 _Shithead,_

 _I'm writing this in case you get back from fuckin' those Kusa assholes up before I get back from beating the shit out of some Taki pussies. Shouldn't take too long, because I'm a fuckin' badass kunoichi. They have me filling in for one of those people with the weird ass white eyes, so I'm workin' with a weird dude with bugs, a guy who fights with his dog, and some woman who apparently uses Genjutsu (She seems alright, Genjutsu's the shit), apparently they know you, friends from the academy or some shit. If you get back before me, don't do anything stupid. I'll try and kill these fucks quick so I can make good on my promise._

 _Fuck you, Asshole,_

 _-Tayuya_

Naruto placed the note back down on the counter, and sighed. The note was dated from a couple of days ago, so he doubted his redhead would be back anytime soon, he mused as he idly stirred his ramen, moving from the kitchen to the couch, kicking his feet up and eating in the awkward silence that is an empty home. He had never truly realized how much he just appreciated having someone else in the house, especially when that someone was his foul-mouthed hot blooded lover. Simply put, he missed her, and because of the war that had now kicked off in earnest, the two didn't really know when they would or wouldn't see each other, just because of the uncertainty that is war itself.

The Jounin raised the cup of ramen to his lips, drinking down the delicious broth of the makeshift dinner he had made, before throwing it away and sighing softly to himself as he walked up to the main bedroom of the house, intent on grabbing a quick shower and then heading to bed, and as he climbed in between those sheets, he thought briefly of just how much he had taken having Tayuya around for granted as he laid there alone, painfully aware of the empty feeling he had in his chest in the absence of the familiar warmth of her head on his chest, her legs entwined with his.

* * *

The blonde walked into the hospital at around nine in the morning the following day, striding lazily past the receptionist at the front desk, barely acknowledging him as he handed the decorated shinobi a folder filled with various information that they flipped through, stopping in their tracks, and turning back to the receptionist briefly, before speaking in a strong, feminine voice.

"Takune, it says here you already admitted Jounin Uzumaki?" The powerful figure of Senju Tsunade asked, crossing her arms under her considerably large one-hundred-and-six-centimeter bust, staring down at the young man as he explained to her that the man was already awaiting his inspection in Exam Room Fifteen, prompting the Sannin to leave the waiting area, heading straight for the aforementioned exam room, sighing to herself once before opening the door and stepping inside, the blonde Jounin turning from his spot looking out the window to greet the new arrival.

"Good Morning, Tsunade-Sama. I see that Ero-Sennin (Pervy Sage) was able to convince you to return?" Naruto greeted good naturedly, no point in angering the woman who had been known to destroy buildings with a single punch. The woman in question merely grunted in response, it was still quite early in the morning, and 'The Legendary Sucker' had been getting absolutely trashed drunk every night since her return, and despite her apprentice Shizune's best efforts, a hangover was still very much present within her.

"Yeah, get your laughs out while you can kid, I only agreed because he agreed to pay off my debt with his own cash. Now, the Hokage wanted me to check your chakra coils for possible damage from the influx of Youkai Chakra that's been being steadily released into your system…

* * *

The next several days passed somewhat slowly for Naruto, with them ending up with him spending most of his time either training in the various ninja arts, various meetings with the Hokage concerning the war effort, of with the blonde shinobi simply lazing around, doing his best to merely pass the time. He had even visited the newest additions to the village, Tsunade and Shizune, with all three coming to enjoy each other's company a great deal.

Naruto had even found out after one particularly long conversation with Tsunade about his heritage, discovering that she was something like a long lost aunt to him. So not only was he the Godson of one of the Sannin, he was the Great-Grand Nephew of another, but through her he was also very distantly related to the Shodai and Niidaime Hokage's, _and_ he was the son of the Yondaime, with an honorable mention of serving as a Captain in ANBU directly under the Sandaime and Godaime Hokage's.

That had to be some kind of record.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The war is on! I tried my hand a small amount at writing a little bit of a lemon here, not a full one per say, but a little bit more into detail than normal. Anyone see that twist I had going with Guren? No? Cool. And yes, the Konoha 12 are back! And what's more, their sensei actually taught them shit, instead of sending them out halfcocked like in canon. Anyways, I appreciate it if you guys take the time to leave a quick review if you can, helps me make the story better if you guys can give me a little insight here and there. I'll try and keep up with the speedy updates, but work has been picking up so no promises on my end.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	13. Minimum Bloodshed

**Welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized!' The War between the alliance of Kusa/Taki/Oto is kicking off in earnest against Konoha, so things should be picking up a bit. Also, I'm going to be starting on the process of going through my older chapters and editing them, nothing you'll need to reread for, mainly just grammar and spacing. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **Minimum Bloodshed**

* * *

Moments. It had taken mere seconds for it all to be over. Looking over the field that was now decorated in a sea of bodies, all bearing the waterfall-esque headband of Takigakure, a single figure could be seen walking towards the Konoha line, the leaf nin having entrenched themselves on one side of the clearing for cover and concealment alike. They had been prepared, supplied and supplemented, ready and awake, not eager to fight the coming battle, but more than ready to do their duty to the village, and then he had shown up, one last second reinforcement. One singular man.

He had moved through the ranks of the Konoha Nin almost as if he was a ghost, his sandal clad feet squishing into the ground that had become thoroughly soaked by the rain that hadn't ceased since they had begun the push across the border into Takigakure itself. The man had arrived with his head bowed, almost as if he seemed regretful of what he were about to do, his hands clenched in the pockets of his black shinobi pants, a kunai pouch adorning shit right thigh. He had raised his head when he reached the front of the line, allowing his long blonde hair to fall behind him, his bangs framing his face, the normally spiky hair pulled back into a small ponytail at the base of his neck, all of it matted down from the rain.

None of the Konoha shinobi had said anything to the Jounin as he passed them by, maybe mistaking him for a regular nin, maybe noticing of his exploits from before, recognizing the young man as he walked. He had nodded once to himself, before he thrust his left foot forward, stepping out of the defensive line and began walking across the open and pristine field, heading towards the line of enemy ninja. It had taken mere seconds for the battle to begin, reaching its end in a bloodbath only a few minutes. The moment one of the Taki Nin had realized that the man walking towards him wasn't some elaborate form of Genjutsu, or a hail of parley, he had turned to raise the alarm, and that's when the entire battle, if you could call it that, began.

Multiple copies of the blonde man had leapt from the trees, burst from the ground, simply appeared on all sides from around the camp, some running inside and exploding, some jumping high above the camp itself. All had one thing in common, the three-pronged kunai that they either rained down from above or shot out upon their 'death', and that is when all hell broke loose for exactly seven seconds. There was an uncountable number of cobalt flashes flickered across the enemies line, and all was silent for a brief moment as the young man appeared at the front of the camp, in the same place he had been before the assault had started, returning a sword to the sheath on his back, over a trench coat that was oddly reminiscent of one Mitarashi Anko, had the color been more of a cream, instead of the rustic brown he wore.

The silence that permeated the battlefield under the sound of the pouring rain remained intact for a brief second after the man reappeared, walking back towards his fellow Nin, his identity vow very much confirmed to them as he moved, his cerulean eyes piercing the darkness in the early morning light. Then, the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the ground reached him, each and every impact reminding him of a life he had just ended, a flame he had extinguished. Each head that hit the ground had him holding back a flinch, as he was forced to think of the father that would now never return home. The mother who would never hold her child again. The mere Genin he had just slain, their parents never going to see them become Chunin, their lives over before they had even had the chance to begin.

It didn't matter that it was quick. It made no difference that he had made it as clean and painless as possible as he slit throats and cut hearts, the men and women he had killed were still dead, making it a hollow statement as best. His operational orders were clear- no prisoners, no survivors, and he grimaced as he made a few Kage Bunshin that immediately began to gather his spent kunai. The blonde Jounin pushed down the bile that threatened to rise in his throat as he placed an expressionless mask back upon his face, a façade worthy of the masked Hokage himself. He did his best to drown out the cheer that came from his comrades, all of them happy that no Konoha blood had been spilt.

Naruto closed his eyes briefly amid the sea of praise he was coming to hate. This hadn't been a battle in a war. This had been the slaughter of over one-hundred and fifty men and women, and he was the culprit.

* * *

"…So long story short, I had to fight the whole battle, without pants!" Kiba finished, smiling happily as he patted Naruto on the back, the blonde had begun choking on his ramen while laughing at his friends' story, the broth catching in his throat. The two had been spending more time together than they had in a couple of years, the duo splitting apart after Naruto's induction into ANBU, and the many years he had spent there while the Inuzuka heir had remained true to his clan, becoming a Chunin after a couple years as a Genin, his partner Akamaru gaining the same ranking as he did.

The two had even run a couple of tracking/capture missions together a couple times, which was how this outing was brought about. Both of the young men's respective girlfriends were out of the village on assignments of their own, and seeing as how the two had just come back from a mission of their own, they decided to celebrate with a meal, the two stopping off at Ichiraku's. Naruto grinned as he finally managed to clear his throat, the image of Kiba fighting on the front line in nothing but his jacket was certainly one for the memory books, and watched quietly as his longtime friend regaled the waitress with tales from the front.

The blonde Jounin was happy for his friend, he truly was. The war seemed to be weighing a lot less heavily on the feral looking ninja than it did for him, but then again, Naruto had been in a lot more battles than he had, and had taken a lot more life as well. The former captain had even been volunteering for any mission he could, especially the ones where contact was imminent, doing his damndest to destroy the enemy before they could even come close to his countrymen. He'd heard people talking, he was gaining quite the reputation for himself with his continued exploits, considering the war had only been going for a few months.

"And Naruto here, he's taken out multiple of enemy strongholds by himself! Some of them had a shit load of Ninja in them too, from what I hear." The man in question was yanked from his thoughts by a very enthusiastic Kiba, who had grabbed his shoulder and shaken the man slightly, waving his other arm and baring his teeth in his feral grin in the attempt to impress the people he had been talking to. Akamaru barked in the background as Naruto merely shrugged slightly, giving a small grin and muttering about how it was no big deal. "But it is! You see ladies, people go runnin' when they see me hit the field, but Naruto… when the famed "Furasshu no Isan (Legacy of the Flash)" walks out on the battlefield, the enemy is already dead! This man here…" Kiba paused, grinning towards his friend before looking back to the girls he had been showing off to. "This man is a fuckin' living legend."

"Yeah… It's pretty great I guess…" Naruto agreed with his friend half-heartedly, it took everything he had not to stare down at his hands, knowing what he would find there. Before Kiba could notice his change though, the blonde Jounin replaced his downtrodden look with a wide grin, before he looked over to his empty bowl, beckoning their waitress over and asking her for another couple of bowls.

Anything to take his mind off of it.

* * *

The bridge was pretty quiet tonight, thought Sukamoi Gin as he leaded against one of the nearby structures. Her group from Kusa had taken it without conflict, there had been no Konoha Nin there to bar them passage. His platoon commander had actually wanted to keep them moving, but had been late in the evening and a few of the other leaders in the group had convinced him to allow the men to rest for the night. She'd hadn't been on watch long, maybe an hour or two, but honestly this wasn't too bad.

She didn't get it though. Gin didn't understand why Kusa felt the need to get involved into another war with Konoha, when they were still recovering from the absolute thrashing they had gotten at the hands of the same village years before. While physical rebuilding had been easy, it was the economics of the village that had suffered, with them losing a lot of their land to Konoha, and with it many of their contractors, meaning the village had lost a significant source of its income.

Gin wasn't usually one to comment of the political inner workings and shifts taking place throughout the nations, but then again usually they didn't apply to her home, with it being a minor village. But now… Well, she still wouldn't talk on it. Insubordinate actions weren't looked down with a good eye, and were grounds for discharge from service, or even execution if her actions seemed traitorous. And then there were the reports from the front that had the twenty-something Chunin more than concerned. The reports of the young, blonde shinobi from Konoha who was doing the same thing that his supposed father had done nearly two decades ago.

Maybe it was just false propaganda from the Leaf, meant to break their morale and weaken their fighting spirit, but she doubted it. If that were the case, why would they have changed the color of the Yondaime's signature attack, just because someone else was using it? It didn't make sense, but for whatever reason, she really hope that the word she was getting from what little survivors and spies they had left was wrong, hopefully just false intelligence. She sniggered to himself as she leant against the wall. Blue flashes? How lame wa-

Gin never finished his thought, and she would never get to start any more as a sword enclosed in the piercing nature of wind chakra pierced her throat, cutting from left to right and stopping just short of the other side, before retracting. The woman stumbled backwards, before being caught by the very man who had skewered her, lowering Gin gently onto the ground below, her fading eyes clouding over in death as she quietly choked on his own blood. After cradling the girl in his lap as she died, Naruto stood, flicking the blood from Kaze no Karitoriki. The Uzumaki stood, muttering a quick apology to the man lying on the ground, his eyes still staring open into the air in abject horror and confusion, not knowing that he was dead even as his life seeped from his throat and onto the cold unforgiving ground below him. His words of regret did nothing for the man though, as words are useless to the dead.

Naruto gazed grimly around him, looking around at the small town he had just finished liberating, before his eyes were drawn back to the body of the man, his dark red essence seeping around the Konoha Ninja's sandals. He always did his best to make the lives he took quick and painless, though it mattered little. Konoha waged war differently from some of the other villages, and it was especially brutal when they were the ones trespassed upon to begin with. Because of the unwarranted take on Chinbaku, and the discovery of the brutal torture and exhibition killings of Team Ebisu being still fresh in the mind of many, there would be no mercy until late in the war.

The blonde Jounin sighed, sheathing his katana before turning to walk back to where the men and women under his command were, clenching and unclenching his fists as he walked. He idly thought back to when he had traveled with Jiraiya as a child, and though he faintly remembered passing through Kusagakure, he didn't remember it being as it was now, a dark and dreary place often devoid of emotion. Maybe it was just the way that things were because of the war and constant fighting that never seemed to stop or slow down, he didn't know, and honestly, he didn't care about the landscape anymore. His only job was to do the same thing any good leader would do, keep his men from dying.

The yellow haired blonde sighed to himself softly, before forcing all of these thoughts to the back of his mind. He knew many of the shinobi and kunoichi under his command would be having thoughts similar to his own, and he needed to keep their morale high, convincing them that their sacrifice was worth the effort. Naruto put on a calm façade as he walked back, squaring his shoulders and doing his best to shoulder the weight that is the burden of leadership.

* * *

The sound of laugher filled the room as Tayuya was dropped unceremoniously onto the large bed, the broad frame of her blonde lover crawling over her as he smirked. The sheets that usually adorned the bed had been cast off haphazardly, now lying somewhere on the floor, forgotten and discarded. The impromptu wrestling match had begun almost immediately when Naruto had walked through the door of his house, taking the longer route home from the Hokage Tower after he had finished giving his latest report instead of simply flashing into his home.

He had barely been two steps inside the door before he noticed his redheaded girlfriend standing in the kitchen off to his left, dressed in a simple red tank top and green shorts, she had a small cup of ramen in one hand, the noodles sticking out of her mouth as she ate, looking at her boyfriend wide eyed. The woman slowly slurped the noodles into her mouth as Naruto shrugged off his coat, before turning back to the woman he had admitted to everyone but himself that he loved, placing a look of mock anger on his face and staring her in the eye, speaking the first words that the two had been able to say face to face to each other in weeks.

"Tayuya, are you eating _my_ ramen?" Before she could answer Naruto was walking towards her mock-menacingly, never taking his eyes off of her, and speaking once again. "Because you made it very, _very_ clear that you didn't like it much, and that if I bought it, you said you wouldn't eat it." The blonde finished, a dark scowl written across his face as he looked down upon her, merely inches away. Tayuya had the decency to look somewhat sheepish as she turned her head to look up at her blonde lover, the noodles she had been eating now dragged across her chin as she slurped them up, before she placed the ramen cup on the counter next to her. Tayuya drew herself up to her full height, which was still a good few inches shorter than the blonde, as she looked him defiantly in the eye.

"Well, you see Shithead, the thing is that-" The Redhead hadn't gotten to finish her sentence as she ducked under his arm, running away through the house, before eventually being cornered by the blonde in the bedroom, and thrown onto the bed, her lover climbing up to hover over her, pinning her down with her arms above her head. Naruto couldn't help but smile, looking down at the beautiful woman that lie beneath him, her chocolate orbs staring back into his own, a few strands of hair falling down the front of her face that she gently blew away, before blinker and looking back up at him, biting her lower lip as she completely ceased her 'struggling'.

"I missed you." Those three simple words spoken by the blonde over her did it for Tayuya, as she forced herself up, pulling Naruto into a deep kiss, attempting to force every bit of emotion she had felt over the last couple weeks into him through it. Every time she had woken up in the middle of the night, searching for that comfortable and familiar warmth, and not finding it. Every time she had gotten angry over something trivial, and had wanted to vent her frustrations on someone who would care, but he wasn't there. The blonde was the woman's entire world, and she wanted him to know it, if only through a kiss.

The Jounin happily kissed her back doing the same thing, and pouring all of his emotion into it, as he released one of her hand and brought it down to cup her face. The two finally parted, breathing lightly and taking in a good amount of air, before Naruto opened his eyes, and for a second it wasn't Tayuya who lay beneath him, but the kunoichi whose throat he had cut, her blood seeping into the bed. Unable to hold in the surprised hitch in his breath, the blonde's eyes suddenly dilated, before he shook his head briefly, clearing his mind before returning to look at his love, who was looking at him in concern. "Shithead, you alright?"

"Yeah… Yeah it's nothing." The blonde reassured his girlfriend, his eyes returning to their usual electric blue as he leaned down to kiss her, but stopping as he found both of her hands on the side of his face, a smirk on her lips. Tayuya cleared her head briefly, maybe she had imagined the whole thing, it was late after all, before she quickly slipped her leg under Naruto's, and then rotated her hips, changing their positions so that she was now on top of him.

"Now…" The redhead began, allowing a sly smile to spread across her lips as she began lowering herself down the blonde's body, kissing along his jawline and biting his ear softly, one of her hands on his chest, their legs intertwined as she whispered. "I remember something about a promise?"

* * *

"You're heading out again?" Tayuya had phrased it as a question, but the tone it was said in made it very clear that it was anything but. The sound of her voice, still half asleep in the early morning light, had frozen the blonde in his tracks as he was tying the scarf he had taken from Konohamaru's broken body around his waist as a sash. He slowly finished what he had been doing, before grabbing his coat and threw it around his shoulders as he spoke.

He turned back, watching her as she lifted herself from the bed, the covers she had been under falling to around her waist as she leaned up on one elbow, rubbing the sleep from her eyes wearily. The woman had been fast asleep until around four, when the warm body she had been holding onto abruptly slipped away, throwing the young woman into the throws of the cold morning, before he had covered her with the blankets. "Yeah Red… This one shouldn't take more than a few days at most. I'll be back before you know it."

"That's not the fucking point, Shithead. It isn't fucking fair that you are going around acting like the fucking rally point." The blood-haired beauty sat up fully now, stretching briefly, the loose shirt she had been wearing falling loosely around her left shoulder. "I've been to the front too, Asshole. I hear the fuckers talking. Everyone's always talking about how you're on this front or that front, always leading a goddamn mission! They talk about how you're in every fucking camp, on every post! It sounds like you're fighting the fucking war yourself."

The woman slowed her rant, looking at her blonde lover as he stood across the room from her, slowly crossing his arms as he gazed at her. He didn't like it any more than she did, and he definitely didn't like being apart from her, but if there was something he could do to prevent someone he knew from getting hurt, he would. "I have the power to end fights before they begin, Tayuya. It sucks but every fight I stop _saves_ someone from the village. If I sit idly by and do nothing, then I'm no better than the people who attacked us in the first place." Naruto finished softly.

"Fuck you, Shithead! I'm not asking for you to do _nothing,_ just for you to take a step back and let others go in your fuckin' place! You can't be everywhere at once, Shithead. You keep this shit up and you might slip up, and make a fuckin' mistake that gets you fucking killed!" Tayuya had thrown a pillow during her tirade, looking at the blonde with near tears in her brown eyes, all but pleading with the man she loved, even though she hadn't managed to say the words yet. "Maybe you could just come home more, or maybe don't volunteer for _every_ mission that comes out for Kami's Sake! There are others out there who can fucking fight, Shithead."

The blonde simply stared at her, before he sighed softly, turning to head out the door. He had to leave, he was going to be late and didn't have the time to fight over something like this. "What kind of person would it make me, if I sat back and let someone die, when I could have prevented the whole thing by just being there?" He asked the redhead aloud, before flashing out of the room in his signature spark of cerulean.

Tayuya just sighed angrily, before laying back on the bed she shared with the blonde Jounin, slapping the bed in anger and frustration. She'd never admit it, to anyone, but the blonde was her lifeline. She had a few friends in the village, but they were nothing compared to him. And the tough redhead was scared. She was terrified that one day he'd leave for a mission, and then never come back. She knew he'd never admit it, but the blonde was working himself ragged. In all the time that Tayuya had known him, she'd never once seen him tired before this war started. Yet, now when he was home with her, the redhead had noticed the sometimes faraway look he tried to hide, or the looks he'd sometimes give her.

"Fuck!" The Redhead shouted as she lay alone in the bed. Of all the people in the world, she just _had_ to fall in love with the one with a 'Hero Complex'.

* * *

The blonde haired Jounin walked into the command center of the Forward Operating Base in Oto, he had just come from the line in Taki, but a request had come in for him, apparently there was some high class shinobi who was tearing through their forces the closer they got to what the higher echelons in Konoha could only assume was going to end up being Otogakure's final stand, unless they surrendered before then, though with Orochimaru being the current leader that possibility was as likely as a snowman surviving in hell. The problem was apparently a big one, and since he was acting as the Hokage's personal quick response force, he had finished up his task in Kusa and beat trail towards Oto.

He might get lucky, he mused as he crossed the room. This guy might turn out to be a pushover and maybe he could even hook up with Tayuya while he was here, Naruto knew she was currently running a mission somewhere in Oto out of this FOB so he if he did a little searching, he was sure he'd be able to find her and apologize for the fight they had before he was sent off to the front. These thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he took his place around the war table as the meeting began, the various advisors beginning their talks of strategy in earnest.

They had only been an hour or two into the council, when the flap of the tent was shoved open and a haggard looking shinobi stepped in, his arm hanging loosely at his side, blood running down his face from under his Hitai-Ite. Naruto was at the man's side in a flash, instantly beaten and battered form of Shino, his high collar and sunglasses with his matching trench coat a dead giveaway. The beetle user was able to look up at his longtime friend, before uttering one word he knew the blonde would understand, it was quite logical of course, once one understood the relationship between the two. "Tayuya." He had barely gotten the word out before the blood loss overcame him, the last thing he noticed being a bright blue flash of light.

* * *

Tayuya was on her knees, the bodies of two other Konoha Nin on the ground behind her. She'd done her best, thrown Genjutsu after Genjutsu at him, used every trick in the book she had, but deep down, she'd known it wouldn't be enough, her opponent was simply in a class of his own when compared to her. Fuck, she should've just retreated when they had the chance. As it was, she had barely pulled off getting one of her teammates, Aburame Shino, out of there in time to go for help. She was lucky that they were only a few miles away from the FOB, or he might not have made it that far, judging by the injuries he had sustained.

The other two members of the team hadn't been so lucky. One of them, a Hyuuga by the name of Ichimaru Hozuki had attempted to engage the man in a blur of his family style of Taijutsu, only to get thrown into a tree, small pieces of bone emerging from his chest before he fell to the ground. The other member had younger kid who went by Seriki Kisuke. He'd fallen when the monster they were fighting had gotten inside his defense as he prepared some jutsu, falling to the ground, now relieved of his head.

Tayuya, knowing she would lose to the man, had ordered Shino back to the command center to call for aid, knowing it would be too late, but still oddly satisfied that she'd been able to at least prolong his life, if not save it completely. After that, it hadn't taken long. The white haired devil she was facing had slowly picked her apart, almost as if he was playing with her, until he had managed to shatter her flute, the forced of the blow he delivered sending her flying not into, but through a tree. The redhead had done her best, barely managing to rise to her feet before she fell again, the man stopping before her, mere feet away.

"Look how far you've fallen, Tayuya… I don't remember you being quite so despicable. Weak yes, a pushover, yes, but not this detestable." The man looked down on her, the bone sword in his hand being slowly raised, to point at her as he cocked his head to the side, speaking down upon her like she was a child who had gotten caught stealing a cookie who now had to be punished. "You are trash." He spoke simply.

"Fuck you. I hope your disease-ridden corpse has enough lube built up inside so when the Snake Fuck decides to take your ass one last time before you-"Tayuya didn't get to finish her sentence as Kimimaro leaned in next to her, smirking as he spoke in her ear, barely above a whisper as he raised his blade above his head, preparing to bring it down.

"That's where you're wrong, trash. Kabuto finally managed to cure me of my illness. I'm going to be around for a while, but you? Not so much." The man finished as he brought his sword down, preparing to cleave the traitorous redhead in two, but finding that his sword had only struck dirt, directly in the adjacent absence of two separate, yet distinct flashes of blue. The last member of the Kaguya turned slowly, finding a kneeling blonde man holding his one-time ally in his arms, looking on her with concerned eyes as he created a Kage Bunshin, handing the barely conscious woman off to it as he talked.

"Shithead? What are you doing here, I thought you were in Kusa…" The woman trailed off as her wounds and exhaustion were beginning to catch up to her, though the redhead was doing an admirable job of holding on, even as she latched onto the blondes neck, pulling him down for a quick, chaste kiss. The blonde gave her his quick, trademark grin before he nodded to his clone.

"Don't worry, I'll make this quick. Now…" The original turned his back on his redheaded girlfriend as the clone carrying her made a beeline back towards the Forward Operating Base, every bit as intent on getting the brown eyed beauty in his arms the best medical attention he could find, even if he had to carry her all the way to Konoha to get to Tsunade, such was the man's devotion.

"So, you're the guy I've been hearing so much about." The blonde Jounin began, looking around him, and taking stock of his surroundings, noticing the fallen farms of the two Konoha Shinobi as he stalked towards the white haired man. He'd have to be careful, and he mentally chided himself on being so impulsive for flashing all the way directly to the Hiraishin tag he had placed on Tayuya when he didn't even know for sure if she was in trouble or not. Such a long jump had dented his chakra a bit, and while he still had quite a bit of it, he'd still have to watch himself.

The man he was watching seemed off, to say the least. And the sword he was holding, it looked almost as if it was made of bone. Naruto lightly shuddered as the white haired man across from him popped his neck, before he spoke solemnly, his voice being carried on the wind as he stalked towards the only standing Konoha nin in the area. "Save your breath. This will be over shortly." That was all the warning Naruto got as he was forced to dodge back, jumping under and over, sliding around and near the man's sword strikes.

Growling, the blonde haired Jounin was able to just barely slip inside the man's guard, delivering a quick several punches to the man, before he kicked him in the solar plexus, jumping backwards as he did so, landing a few yards away, one of his Hiraishin kunai falling into his hands. This was bad, a lot worse than he thought, initially. From just the brief exchange he had with the strange man, he had found out a few things. Namely, the swords that were now in each of the man's hands _were_ in fact, made of bone, and apparently the man could manipulate his own bones at will, as when Naruto had punched and kicked his chest, he had only barely dodge the bone spikes that he could only assume was the man's former ribcage shot out of his chest.

Naruto took all this in in a matter of seconds. This was going to be an interesting fight, as well. He already knew the man, and had a decent grasp on his abilities from one of his many talks with Tayuya, and this Kimimaro guy wasn't someone that was going to be put down easily, meaning he was pulling out all the stops from the get go. The tactical mind of the blonde Jounin was already whirring, and the former captain quickly created several shadow clones, two of them jumping into the air while he moved in with the other three.

The two in the air launched a hail of the distinctive tri-pronged kunai, littering the area with the tags and blades themselves, before popping out of existence, the trio of 'Naruto's already closing on their enemy, the original already charging a Rasengan in his hand. Kimimaro was no slouch, and while he had no Genjutsu in his repertoire and his Ninjutsu was really just a play-off of his Kekkie Genkai, his Taijutsu was phenomenal, and even had his Taijutsu been subpar, he would still have been a force to be reckoned with. That isn't to say that he was an infallible fighter, just that he was very proficient at what he did, and if you coupled that with his ability to harden the bone under his skin to inhuman levels, he was also very hard to put down.

The blonde ninja would learn this next fact soon enough though, for as Kimimaro quickly made work of his clones, engaging them in a swift and quickly ended battle, Naruto began to flash around him, before he finally got inside the man's guard, appearing on his left side and forcing the Rasengan into the man's shoulder and smirking as he felt it begin digging into him. The grin very quickly left his face though, as he found his arm was no longer moving forward, and in a split second of combat genius, Naruto overloaded the jutsu, blowing it up on the man and sending them both flying back before the Kaguya's bones could catch him.

The two stared each other down before Naruto began flashing around the battlefield again, his sword appearing in his hands as he unsheathed it from his back, flashing across the man again and again, each time a next slice appearing on him. Though the last Kaguya was strong, incredibly slow, the Blonde Jounin's speed was something else entirely, however Naruto's attacks seemed to be doing nothing to him, even though he was channeling the volatile nature that is wind chakra into his blade. As the Kaguya continued to take the blows, he waited, before Naruto appeared in front of him, breathing softly from the exertion of so many flashes after pushing himself to make such a long one to even show up.

"Very Well." That was one of the only two indications that the blonde got that something was different, the other being the black lines that began to crisscross the pale man's body as he sprinted forward towards the former captain, bones now jutting out from several different points on his body, making him akin to a human porcupine as he attacked, spinning in various cycles in a near unpredictable manner. Had it not been for his father's Hiraishin, Naruto would have been decimated, as it was he was barely able to get out of way in time.

Flashing to a kunai and then launching himself into the air, Naruto sprung his trap, knowing that if the man managed to go to the second level of his cursed seal, his chances dropped dramatically, especially since he knew next to nothing about it. As it was, the level one increase had already showed a massive increase in power as well as speed, with Naruto being only just able to dodge the crazed bone fanatic so far, only taking minor cuts and wounds. As he was in the air, three clones of himself appeared out of the ground, each one flashing through the seals for a jutsu of their own, molding the chakra before calling out their techniques together in unison.

"Doton: Doryū Taiga! (Earth Release: Earth flow River!)" "Fūton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Wind Breakthrough!)" "Katon: Fūton: Enpū no Rappa! (Fire Release: Blazing River!)" The ground around the wayward Kaguya became liquidified and became that of a river of mud, catching the bone utilizer off guard and sinking him into the ground up to his waist, immobilizing him. Then the mud itself caught fire from the inferno one of the clones had spat, which the violent wind fire forth and made the now alight mud into a torrential wave that captured the pale man, the burning mud falling upon him, noxious gas rising as it cooled into tar and solidified over him.

The fire itself began to cool almost instantly as the chakra that had been fueling the techniques vanished, all three clones having popped out of existence after casting their jutsu. Naruto landed on one of the few nearby trees, breathing heavily at the loss of chakra, having given each clone a considerable amount. But then the unthinkable happened, the stone statue that had become Kimimaro began to shudder, before his arm cracked and the man's pale skin shown through. He was breaking out through pure strength alone! Naruto, now slightly wide eyed began another flurry of hand seals, determined to put the man down before he could break free.

Naruto jumped towards the ground his right hand extended, striking the ground as lightning poured out from his fingertips. "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!) The lightning tore through the ground, breaking through the earth like putty and tearing through the last Kaguya's legs, snapping bones and ripping tendons that were instantly replaced by the devoted man's Kekkie Genkai. Naruto wasted no time, flashing through more seals faster than the eye could follow, before thrusting his forward, joining them together at the thumbs.

"Fūton: Fuujin Seiken! (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!) The air left Naruto's hands, compressing and speeding through the air, slamming into Kimimaro directly from the front, sending the man flying back just as he had broken from the tar trap the blonde Jounin had laid, but there was something different about him. The man now had dark brown skin as opposed to his usual white, and he had also grown a tail. The former ANBU Captain of the Seventh Division grimaced, this man simply wouldn't stay down. Dispersing his chakra evenly between five clones, they began flashing through techniques that would hopefully slow the bone juggernaut down long enough for Naruto to form his technique. It'd take a shitload of chakra to pull off and even then it wasn't completely guaranteed to work, as he hadn't mastered the second aspect of it yet, but it killed Danzo, and that gave him hope.

His clones finished their hand seals, each one calling out a technique in the hopes to maybe even simply burn the bastard to dead. "Katon: Gōkakyū no _Jutsu!_ (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!)" "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!) "Katon: Hiendan! (Fire Release: Soaring Flame Bullets!)" "Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)" "Futon: Renkūdan! (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!)" The five clones called out simultaneously, dispersing as they did so, their owner standing behind him with his arm extended above his head, the a large Rasengan forming above it as he watched the torrential flames cascade on his enemy, engulfing him completely.

Naruto held the by now fully charged Kinjutsu above his head watching the flames intently as he did so. He wasn't going to cancel it just yet, he had to be _sure_ , sure that the man wasn't going to get up again, or ever. He had thrown so much at the Kaguya, the blonde had to give him credit for his sheer durability, he supposed. And then it happened. He heard it, distinct laughter. That was all the que he needed. Naruto didn't wait for the man to rear his head, he could see the shadow forming in the flames still licking the area. There wasn't any way in hell the blonde was going to give the man any time to recuperate, so he leaned forward and threw the technique, watching with mild satisfaction as the flames were thrown aside by the jutsu propelling forward, seeing his enemy very clearly right before he was engulfed into the technique. "Futon: Rasenshuriken!"

Silence. Silence covered the now destroyed woods as the last Uzumaki shakily, but warily walked towards the fallen and defeated form of the last Kaguya, who lie on the ground before him, covered in blood, his curse mark having receded, leaving the man in his base form. Naruto knelt next to the man, and looked down at him as the pale man laughed back up at him, confusing the blonde until he noticed it. The man's arm… it was rebuilding itself! How the hell was he supposed to kill something that kept getting back up? Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto came up with a plan like he always did. If this didn't work, then he was well and truly fucked, because there was no way he was going to be able to subdue this man-this thing- in the current state he was in if Kimimaro fully recovered.

Naruto reached out and grabbed the man's head, before he began making a Rasengan inside of the fallen man's skull, underneath the thick bone armor that covered his skin, the jutsu spiraling around the last Kaguya's brain itself. Blood began to leak from the nose of the pale faced disciple of Orochimaru, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, right as they turned black, pupil and all. The man began screaming in the most bloodcurdling way possible as his body thrashed in the final throes of death. This wasn't merely the death of a man, but the extinction of everything that was and ever would be the Kaguya clan. As the man's head exploded in his grasp, Naruto fell backwards, leaning over to the side and promptly throwing up from the spectacle. He had one final thought before he fell into the blissfulness of sleep, exhausted from the fight, the rapid and long 'flash-jumps' he had made, and the sheer amount of jutsu he had thrown at the now defeated and dead man.

Thank Kami that final Rasengan worked.

* * *

It had taken six hours for the rescue team to find the remains from the battlefield, the two fighting Nin having moved quite a bit of distance away from the original battleground that Tayuya and her team had fought the Last Kaguya at. Once they had located it though, it was a short and easy matter of pinpointing the only still living person in the area, an after a very quick and thorough destruction of the now awake blonde, (who had luckily only suffered minor damage to his body, the most strain from the battle coming from the sheer amount of chakra he had expended), they had picked up the Jounin, carrying him back to the Forward Operating Base that he had left from, and immediately admitting him to the medical tent.

This of course meant that the blonde's girlfriend knew about his return almost immediately, as she herself was in the tent recovering from her own battle the day prior. The clone with her had only just barely dropped her at the gates before it was forcefully dispelled from the stress that Naruto had ben exerting, unable to keep the technique going for so long over such a large distance. It had served its purpose though, so she supposed it didn't really matter.

The redhead had more or less recovered by the time her blonde counterpart arrived, still completely passed out from exhaustion, but she had managed to convince one of the Med-Nin staffing the tent to place him into a an adjoin rack next to her, so she could at least keep an eye on the blonde, wanting to be there when he woke up. During this time, Tayuya took the time to evaluate her feelings for the blonde, coming to terms with it and finally admitting it to herself. She was in love with him. Head over heels, irrevocably, irretrievably, incomprehensibly in love with him.

From the small things he did to cheer her up, to removing her cursed seal and freeing her from Orochimaru, to nearly dying to defend her, as he had done the previous day. There was no coming back from this, and the redhead, with a mad blush written across her face, resolved to finally tell him, after months of living together, sleeping together, and caring for each other, Tayuya was finally ready to giver herself over completely to the blonde, even if she had already done so in every way but saying the actual words, yet.

Lifting herself up from her seat by his side, the redhead placed her head over the blondes sleeping and bandaged body, planting a small, soft kiss on his forehead, her hair cascading around her shoulders onto his chest and around his head. Tayuya couldn't help but think that he looked to peaceful and kind like this, briefly wondering what life might have been like had she been born in Konoha, of if he had been a part of Oto. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Tayuya leaned down a little bit farther, placing her mouth next to his ear and whispered softly, so quiet if the wind had been blowing even she wouldn't have heard the words though she was the one speaking them.

"I Love You"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Damn, what a chapter. Kimimaro is a fuckin' beast, I'm a little irritated that in canon he was taken down through his weak ass disease. Seriously, the guy survived being thrown 200 meters underground! It was interesting to write a fight scene for him, using nothing but bones and all, but I tried to illustrate it as basically Naruto was too fast for him to get a move off, and after he found out that Kimimaro was a badass at close range, he did his damndest to keep him pinned down with Ninjutsu. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	14. The Price of Peace

**Hey, BillyMayes here with another outstanding product! Chapter 14 is up! Thanks again to all you guys who are reading/reviewing, I love the feedback, and I'm glad that so far you guys seem to be enjoying the story! Keep all hands inside the ride at all times though folks, this is gonna be a long and bumpy ride and we're not even close to the end.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **The Price of Peace**

* * *

 _A young blonde-haired child sat angrily on a tree stump, having run off from his caretaker in a fit of tempered, childish rage. It had been a short couple years since Naruto had been taken in by Jiraiya, who for all his faults was throwing his best effort into raising the young child. It was proving to be quite difficult though, for the small boy was prone to fits of anger, and had very little control over his own emotions. It wouldn't take much for the impulsive child to attempt to fight, no matter the opponent, and Jiraiya had to at least acknowledge the boy's heart._

 _Naruto was currently in the middle of one of them, having been in the middle of a talk with his Godfather about the demon that resided within his body and the choice's his father had had to make to save the village. They had recently come from Kumogakure, and Naruto had witnessed firsthand the way that their own citizens revered and near-worshipped the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi and Nibi. Noticing this, the Last Uzumaki had asked his Godfather what the two people had done to be loved and respected by so many, prompting Jiraiya to take him aside, and finally explain to the eight-year old his heritage._

 _To say that the young boy was excited when he learned of his father, the late Yondaime, was an understatement. Naruto had been nearly bouncing off the walls, finding out that his idol was his in reality, his Dad. But his joy had turned to anger when he learned of the true reason he had been neglected and tormented for his early years in the Leaf, the true nature of his tenant. Suffice to say, the young boy had been unable to immediately come to terms with it, but then again, finding out that you had one of the most powerful demons in existence sealed inside of you wasn't necessarily something to scoff at._

 _Naruto hadn't understood why he had been hated, loathed, and looked down upon, not knowing or understanding the differences between Kumo and Konoha, or the way that their Jinchuriki had come about. It didn't matter to the young boy that the demon fox had killed hundreds of men and women, or that the grieving attackers were few and far between, and almost always inebriated. To a small child, the negative affects had seemed constant, while in reality, for most of his time in the village, Naruto had simply been treated as another orphan._

 _It was still an unfortunate turn, and though the Sandaime had done an amiable job of attempting to give the boy an unbiased upbringing, until Jiraiya had come along that is, he simply could not be everywhere at once. All the child could think at the moment though, was that he wanted the people who had hurt him to be hurt just as much. This was the current train of thoughts that he was upon as Jiraiya walked up to him in the small wooded area, taking a seat next to him, and speaking softly to the young child, stifling his tears, momentarily._

" _In the shinobi world, it's not about how you live, its how you die. A shinobi's life is not measured by how they live but rather, by what they manage to accomplish before their death. Once you've been hurt you learn to hate. But if you hurt another you become the object of their hated. On your shoulders, you now bear the burden of guilt. But it is because one understands such pain, that the generosity toward others will soon become second nature. That's what makes us human. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be angry with Minato, or the Sandaime, or even the village itself, because what they've done to you was truly terrible. But…" The Toad Sage trailed off, looking down at his young charge and smiling sadly as the little blonde boy looked up at him, with red puffy eyes and wrinkled nose, before he continued. "If you were to go back and hurt the people who hurt you, their family will gain hatred themselves. The cycle just breeds even more hate and that's the way it will always be, unless we can learn to forgive."_

 _The large man paused, before ruffling inside his jacket and retrieving a small popsicle, breaking it in half and handing one side to the small blonde at his side, who despite his young age was enraptured by every captivating word the perverted, but wise Sennin was saying. "I don't know how to stop this but without a doubt we will have peace one day. As long as there are those who believe peace is possible, there still is hope. We as shinobi, especially need to adhere to this, and maybe one day… one day we can see ourselves as a shield, instead of as the sword."_

With that, Jiraiya stood up, having finished his small and cold treat, and began walking away from his young protégé, turning once over his shoulder, and speaking softly, in his deep and experienced voice, his eyes taking on that of a faraway look as he did so. "The true ninja is one who endures no matter what gets thrown at him. Let me explain something to you: There's only one thing that matters if you are a shinobi. And it isn't the number of jutsu you possess, or the techniques you master. What you need is the guts to never stop."

 _After that, the man walked away, waving his right hand in farewell as he headed back to the room he and Naruto were staying at, leaving the blonde to ponder his words as he sat on the stump, staring at the frozen treat in his hands. He wasn't ready to let go of his anger just yet, but maybe, one day he would be able to look past his hatred._

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, his eyes blinking rapidly in the fluorescent lighting of the medical tent. He sat up slowly, not being at all surprised that he was only slightly sore after his fight with the Last Kaguya. The blonde groaned out softly as he raised himself to take in his surroundings, the first thing he noticed being the redheaded and bandaged form of Tayuya, laying near him on a bed of her own. He smiled, the grin not reaching his ears as he briefly closed his eyes, thanking Kami that he had gotten her back in time, knowing she had been injured in her fight against her former comrade.

Turning his head, Naruto also saw the sleeping form of who he could only assume was the battered and bruised Shino, if the slight buzzing noise he was hearing from across the room was anything to go by. He sighed to himself, angry at his own actions. The Aburame Heir was one of his oldest friends, dating back to when he had first joined the academy, and the second he had thought that Tayuya was in danger he had abandoned his friend, who was very clearly in a very poor state, flashing an incredible distance to his girlfriend. Naruto leaned back, laying his head on the pillow and bringing his hands up to rub his eyes briefly. He really needed to get the impulsive side of himself under control, or someone would get hurt. The blonde was just lucky that this time, everything worked out in the end.

He had been lucky… again. He had only just barely saved Tayuya from death, and even then she had been hurt. The former Oto-Kunoichi was right, he couldn't be everywhere at once. The blonde sighed to himself, making a mental not to work on his Fuuinjutsu more. It would have been easy to subdue the intensely strong Kimimaro, had he had time to prepare the battlefield and lay some traps in advance. For all of its power, Fuuinjutsu had one major drawback, and that was the time it took to prepare the seals.

The Kanji for whatever seal you were writing for example, had to be perfect. One flaw in the spelling of a word or even a slight miss-stroke and the seal itself could go horribly wrong, exploding in his face or worse. It took time to write out the seals, and in combat, especially single combat, it was difficult to find enough respite to write out the necessary seals to accomplish such a task. Had he done it before? Yes, but that was also when he had had a team with him that was able to distract or relocate their enemy long enough for him to complete the sealing matrix. It was hard to do in heated combat, but not impossible.

This is where pre-prepared seals came in, however, they also had a drawback. A pre-prepared seal only worked if you knew exactly what you were going to be facing. When the blonde had gone to face the Sanbi, he knew what he was going to be facing, and was able to create the according sealing matrix that would achieve the necessary result he was looking for. When he had moved to fight the wayward leader of the ANBU Forces, Shimura Danzo, his goal had been to prevent the man from escaping, and he had managed to bar his path with a barrier sealing method. However, when Naruto had gone to fight the 'prodigal son' of Orochimaru, he had only a vague idea of what the man could do and how he fought.

The last thing he would have wanted to do to a man like that was seal them both into a small area, where the pale skinned Kaguya's outstanding Taijutsu and Kekkie Genkai would have torn him to shreds, him unable to escape. No, he had handled that fight as best he could with what he had, pinning the man down with mid to long range Ninjutsu until he had battered him so much that he could barely move, before he was able to fall inside the man's defense and deal the only lasting hit of the conflict. Had he more time, the blonde Jounin _knew_ he could have come up with a way to seal the man away specifically, but he still had a long way to go before he could simply write out exactly what he needed in a fight.

As Naruto laid in his bed, watching the slow rising and falling of his Redhead's chest under her covers in rhythm with her breathing, he sighed softly to himself, mentally chastising himself over his recent thoughts. There was no point in lamenting over things and events that had already occurred, there was nothing he could do to change them. He did hold power over the future though, and if there was one thing that could be said about the Last Uzumaki, it was that he learned from his fights. And what he knew now was that while he was good, he still wasn't anywhere near good enough to save everyone.

* * *

"Kusagakure is pulling out?"

The Godaime Hokage, Hatake Kakashi gave his signature eye-smile from behind his mask, watching as the blonde in front of his desk, crossed his arms, before giving the masked Hokage his trademark grin. "Yes, apparently they've had enough, and whatever honeyed words that Orochimaru had been slipping them to provoke them into attacking us in the first place have long worn off. I'd like to think that you a factor in this. I've heard reports of your exploits on more than one occasion." The Godaime finished, even going as far as to place his favored orange book down, addressing Naruto face to face.

"Just doing my duty, Hokage-Sama." The Uzumaki replied, his visage back to that of a professional shinobi in the presence of his absolute leader. "I just want to do my part in ensuring that this war will end, sooner rather than later." The Hokage smiled behind his mask, this was going in just the direction he had hoped, just a little bit more of a push, and the man would probably even volunteer for the next mission that he had planned, a vital one to the war effort.

"I'm glad you said that, Naruto, because as it happens, there's one particular mission that you of all people would be suited to take on, with the talents you possess." Naruto merely quirked an eyebrow at that, he had been on an evaluated leave of absence as he recovered from his bout with the now dead Kimimaro for three days, and though he was happy with his time off that he spent happily with Tayuya, the blonde was itching to return to the field. "We've received intelligence that Taki has finally brought their Jinchuriki to the front, intending to retake the land they have been steadily losing since Kusa fell a few days ago, their official surrender pending."

Naruto nodded, taking in the information with practiced ease as he listened, already figuring where this conversation was probably going. "If we can either capture or kill their Jinchuriki, then there is a very high chance that Takigakure would fall just as quickly as Kusa, with their trump card being neutralized. This could be considered an S-Class mission, due to the high likelihood of contact and probability of failure, though if at all possible I'd prefer you to not kill her, no need for a rampaging Bijuu on the loose."

The blonde Jounin brought his hand to his chin, lowering his head slightly as he thought. The Hokage was right, there were only a select few people in the village who even had a prayer of going up against a Jinchuriki, even one who didn't have full control over their Bijuu, and there was little to no intelligence on this one. The Leaf had nothing on this woman or her abilities, knowing only that she had lime green hair and often carried a red canister on her back, contents unknown. Now, of the several people in the village who could _probably_ fight a Jinchuriki in a tailed beast form, even less of them had ever actually done it, the list dropping down to him alone, none of the other having actually faced one of the monstrosities.

The former ANBU Captain was the only currently alive member of Konohagakure who had faced one of the Nine Bijuu, and he had come out on top against the Sanbi. However, were he to face this woman in combat, it would be much different, and for several reasons, the largest being that the woman would be actively trying to fight him, instead of just standing by and letting its strength be sapped away as it fell victim to a sealing matrix. No, this would be a helluva fight, especially if things didn't go with him from the start. Naruto raised his head, looking his Hokage dead in his visible eye.

"I'll need a few days, I'll have to prepare the appropriate seals, make more Hiraishin Kunai…"The blonde counted off a few things on his fingers, before coming to a conclusion. "Give me four days, and then I'll head out to the Taki front." The Hokage merely nodded, wishing the man a quick 'good hunting', before the man before him disappeared in a flash of cobalt.

* * *

Naruto paused on the tree branch he landed on, looking around him slowly and for a brief moment, enjoying the sight of the forest around him, calming his restless heart slightly. It had been twelve days since he had been given the task of hunting down and capturing Takigakure's Jinchuriki, who he had discovered to be quite elusive, and eight days since he had set out from Konoha, arriving at the Taki front a short three days after that, meaning he had been in the field, attempting to track the elusive woman down for the last five days.

After he had made it to the front, he had quickly gone to the command's Forward Operating Base, and gathered all the intelligence they had on his target, though there was very little of it to begin with. He still had no idea as to her whereabouts or abilities, but now he had a baseline of where she was more likely to be, and he had decided to begin his search there. The blonde had thought about gathering a team suited to tracking, such as an Inuzuka or Hyuuga, but he had decided against it. The blonde had seen it as an unnecessary risk, for even if they were able to help him track the offending Bijuu, and then had them retreat during the conflict, there was no guarantee he would be able to prevent the Jinchuriki from stopping their escape.

Besides, it wasn't as if Naruto wasn't a skilled tracker himself, in ANBU he had lead a number of search and destroy missions, as well as capture and tag ones as well, so he was no novice to the task. He currently had some number of clones out in the surrounding forest as well, all of them with the same task he had given himself. The woman appeared to be constantly on the move, receiving her orders via summons, as far as he could tell. He had also gathered that she was working alone, which didn't bode well for him, as it meant she was competent enough to handle herself, and was trusted by her village to some extent, considering she had no handlers.

The blonde sighed, shaking his head. She was doing the same thing he had been, bouncing around the lines of the front, appearing here and there, helping her shinobi fight their largely defensive battles, but even then the Taki shinobi were being pushed back. Naruto ran his right hand through his hair as he leaned against the tree. Even though the Konoha forces were still pushing their enemies back, they were still losing people in droves, especially when this woman took the field. Hell, since Naruto had begun tracking her she had attacked his forces on three separate occasions, with him arriving shortly after her departure. But he was closing in on her, the former captain could almo-.

Naruto's head snapped to the left, his eyes widening in mild surprise as he flashed to the Hiraishin marker his clone had made on one of the trees near its location before it had dispelled itself. The blonde appeared at its location, immediately kicking off of the tree and sending himself hurtling through the trees to the left, dispelling all of his searching clones in the process. The clone who had made the marker had caught sight of the elusive Jinchuriki, and he was determined to not let her escape. Catching a brief flash of green to his right, Naruto clipped the side of a tree, using the momentum, launching a kunai as hard as he could, and flashed to it.

Appearing on the top of the branch of the large, rocky opening, the blonde shinobi looked over his left shoulder, his eyes narrowing at the spectacle that was before him. On the ground below him, and staring up at him defiantly was the petite form of the Seven-Tailed Jinchuriki. The young woman was actually quite attractive, with her sun-kissed skin and orange eyes providing a great contrast to her seafoam green hair that stopped just above her shoulders. The girl didn't seem to be one to care much for modest either, if her chosen choice of clothing was anything to go off of.

Though she had been in combat numerous times, the bold woman was dressed in a near pristine white outfit, consisting of a slim fitting white top that just barely covered her breasts. Allowing his eyes to trail down her body, Naruto also idly noticed her white armguards, and the short white combat skirt she wore, once again, it barely covering her modesty. Underneath it all he was able to see the peeking's of some fishnet armor, but the vast majority of her tanned skin was left open for the enjoyment of any who decided to look. Somewhat alarmingly though, was the absence of the large red scroll she had last been reported to have been wearing, but he'd worry about that later. He inclined his head slightly to the side, before jumping down to stand a few paces away from the woman he'd been chasing.

"Am I to take it you're the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi?" He asked simply, crossing his arms over his chest, looking the woman dead in the eyes as he spoke. He gave nothing away as he allowed himself to fully regress into his ANBU training, becoming in every sense of himself Lynx, though his mask had long been taken from him. His tone was clipped, his eyes narrowed, and while his tone wasn't hostile, it wasn't friendly, either. While his form appeared relaxed, his muscled were tense and poised, the man was ready to jump into action in a heartbeat.

"What's it matter to you?" The minty green woman asked, placing her hands on her hips and jutting them slightly to the side. Honestly, had the blonde not been in a committed relationship and not about to either capture or kill this woman, he might have even commented on it, she was quite pretty. The man let a quick sigh escape his lips, not at all looking forward to the coming battle, but steeling himself for it just the same. Her response had all but confirmed it for him, it was definitely her.

"Don't suppose there's any way I could convince you to let me seal your chakra, and then have you come along peacefully with me back to Konoha, where we'll set you up in a confined area until Taki surrenders?" The Last Uzumaki asked, his tone light even though he already knew the answer to his question, it _was pretty_ asinine, anyways, but there wasn't any harm in asking. You never knew with some people, and a part of him was really hoping that this could end without bloodshed.

"Not a chance." That was all the warning Naruto would get as the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi flew across the short distance that separated the two, the blonde dodging her moves somewhat easily, neither of them employing their demon chakra yet, though for quite different reasons. The blonde Jounin ducked under one of her blows, dropping his weight before he pivoted on his left foot, spinning and driving a crushing fist into her abdomen that had the woman forced a few feet back, her looking up and glaring at him, a cold look in her eyes.

"What's your name?" The woman asked as she stood to her feet, falling into a ready stance as she began molding her chakra inside herself as she waited for an answer, the blonde shinobi falling into a similar stance. She idly noted that the man now had held an odd looking three pronged kunai in his hand, and though she knew the stories of this man taking out many of her own allies, the verdette was still pretty confident she could win. At his questioning look, she elaborated on her question. "I like to know the names of people I kill that are worth my time."

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde answered slowly, reaffirming his grip on the kunai in his hand, his mind already working on a way to implement his plan into this fight. "And you are?" He asked, his tone just as laid back as before, his eyes widening slowly as he watched the green haired Jinchuriki manifest her chakra, it forming into four wings that sprouted from her back. 'That… might be a problem.' He admitted to himself, watching her as she slowly lifted herself off of the ground, a slight buzzing noise breaking the silence of the area.

"Fuu." And that would end up being the end of the conversation, as the now named Fuu accelerated forward at an alarming rate, her speed quite impressive having increased a great deal from before. However, when she had closed in on the blonde he had vanished in a spark of cobalt, appearing behind her and delivering a kick to her back that sent her into the ground. The girl merely rebounded off the ground sending her back towards her adversary feet first, the blonde pulling the same trick he had before, appearing in front of her.

"Don't…underestimate… me!" Fuu didn't scream, she full on shrieked as a dark orange cloak of rancid, noxious, chakra enshrouded from her body. Two antenna came into shape, sprouting from her head, as three tails that appeared to be comprised entirely of the energy that covered her body. The woman's wings also took on a more ragged look, going from a pristine and precise look to one of pure strength and energy. She turned her head over her right shoulder, glaring at the blonde through wide eyes, the orange pupils glowing almost menacingly in the afternoon light.

Naruto didn't even have time to mutter the brief 'shit' he had in mind before the woman had crossed the clearing faster than he could notice, not able to Hiraishin out of the way in time, and took an absolutely destroying blow to the blondes chest, sending him flying before he came to a stop at the base of a large oak tree. Groaning, the blonde pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head, before he quickly ducked, flashing to the kunai he had left in the original clearing, just dodging the fist that an enraged Fuu had launched at him. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, the blonde shinobi made several clones that jumped into the nearby trees, before he himself began throwing kunai all around the clearing, waiting for the container of the Nanabi to return to the clearing.

And return she did, flying into the clearing her antennae twitching as they flew, her wings blurring faster than the eye could follow, but this time Naruto was ready for her. Breathing heavily from the solid blow he had taken, the blonde shinobi began flashing around the clearing, however he couldn't get close to her. Every time he'd disappear only to reappear in a new location, the Jinchuriki would already be facing him, her chakra enhanced antennae apparently able to sense the surrounding area around her and reveal his location.

Naruto flashed into existence behind her, two Kage Bunshin appearing next to him before he flashed to another position again, but by the time he had moved the crazed woman had already moved to and destroyed one of his clones. The blonde flashed one more time, his hands already a blur of hand seals as his clone did the same, them both calling out the name of their technique in unison with the Jinchuriki in between them. "Fūton: Fuujin Seiken! (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!)"

Both Naruto's thrust their hands out and forward from their bodies, the clone forcing all of its chakra into the attack, the air compressing and blasting across the clearing, both forces slamming into the green haired woman in unison, crashing into each other with her body caught in the center. Had it been a normal person, they would have been completely crushed by the impact, the forceful jutsu literally compressing their body to an unforgiveable degree, and had they survived, they would be living through nothing short of a sheer miracle. As it was, all it did was take the already enraged Nanabi and infuriated it more, spinning it into a completely new dimension of pissed off it had never been before in its life as it found itself in an excruciating amount of pain, its body reforming as the jutsu wore down.

The blonde shinobi landed on the ground a short distance away, not at all surprised that all it did was anger her, leaving no lasting damage. This could work to his favor though, for as angry as she was Fuu wouldn't be thinking clearly, and that meant that she could play right into his hands. Naruto took stock of his options as he began flashing around the area again, the smaller, normal kunai he was stabbing into the ground going completely unnoticed by the Nanabi Jinchuriki as she chased him from one side of the clearing to the other, the small pieces of paper on each of them fluttering in the breeze he made with his movements.

Naruto flashed into the dead center of the clearing, the kunai he had placed marking the location he need to be almost perfectly. Once he appeared there, the blonde didn't have long to wait until Fuu followed, the girl having been almost completely taken over by her tenant, making a beeline straight for the man, the buzzing sounds of her wings lacing the air. As soon as she was in the designated area, the blonde Jounin activated his snare, and hoped against hope it'd word as he began desperately dodging around the woman's blows, keeping her in a small confined area while not counterattacking, not unless he wanted to lose a limb to her near suffocating chakra.

As the real Naruto flashed around the clearing, managing to keep the enraged Jinchuriki completely occupied, three clones of himself leapt out of their hiding places in the surrounding forestry, their previous job having been completed, as all three began flashing through hand seals, finishing them at three separate intervals and calling out one after the other as they did so, dispersing when their chakra had been spent and technique completed. "Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi (Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop!)" "Katon: Suyaki no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Fried Pottery Technique!)" "Raiton: Jūrokuchū Shibari! (Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Bind!)".

Before the two battling Jinchuriki hand the chance to move, sixteen large pillars composed of light itself were launched into the area from all angles, effectively trapping the two inside from any escape, save for the open top. Two fighters quickly became one though, as Naruto himself flashed out of the 'area' his clone had created, while Fuu had the sense of mind to look confused for a split second before she began flying for the open roof of the construct. Her hopes of escape were dashed though as a hole was torn open directly above the opening, an incredibly large amount of liquid mud falling from it, down into the construct, covering the green haired kunoichi from head to toe in the mud, and sending her crashing back down to the earth below.

Then the final act of the three part combination jutsu was performed as the third clone called out his technique and the top of the box made of light enclosed. A fire alit inside of it, and turned it into an oven, Fuu's eyes widening as the mud coating her quickly became clay, hardening around her body, holding her stiff. Each of her wings had been coated and trapped, and the only part of her still thrashing was her three tails. The fire kept up for some time, the chakra from her tails finally dying out until she simply laid there.

Naruto stood off to the side, already flashing through a long list of hand seals as the constructed oven before him began to quake and crack. The blonde had known that at best, this would only slow the demon container down, Jinchuriki were known for being impossibly hard to capture, after all. The oven shattered, pieces of it flying in all directions, as Fuu, or what had been Fuu, stood in the epicenter of the blast, her dark orange chakra covering her from head to foot and beginning to take on the visage of the beast itself. The former ANBU Captain grimaced, this was going to be close, but he needed just a few more seconds.

The beast, for that is what she had become, fully loosing herself to her tenant in the face of defeat, reader its head back and roared, and this ultimately would prove to be its downfall, as it gave the Last Uzumaki the required time to finish the incredibly long string of hand seals he had been rushing through since the start of his clones massive combination jutsu. Grinning up at the enraged Bijuu, Naruto launched himself straight at it, chakra powering his leap as he forced himself to through the burning mass of chakra that was licking at his skin, scorching him as he passed briefly through, before he appeared in front of Fuu and smashing his hand into her stomach, his fingertips glowing with a bright purple flame.

"Uzumaki Fūin Gijutsu: Tengoku no Yattsu no Kyōi no Mon! (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Eight Menacing Gates of Heaven!). As soon as he called out his technique, Naruto flashed back to one of his kunai that had been specifically placed outside of the dubbed 'kill zone', doing his best to ignore the burnt flesh he had from more or less jumping into a vat of acid and hoping that he moved fast enough he wouldn't get too hurt, and he had been more or less correct, his skin only suffering minor second degree burns that his healing factor was already going hard to work on, something he supposed he could thank his own demon for.

The blonde Jounin leant back against the tree, holding in his grunt of pain as he watched as one after one, a large two pronged gate fell from the sky, each one falling upon one of the great wings of Nanabi, trapping them to the ground, one fell around its tail and held it to the ground as well, as the eighth and final pillar crashed down around the Bijuu's neck pinning it to the ground completely, rendering it unable to move as the sealing matrix that Naruto had created on the ground activated, seven clones appearing from their own camouflaged spaces, each one manning a separate and different point on the matrix, pouring their amassed chakra into the mix.

It hadn't taken long for the woman's chakra to be forcefully sealed inside her, maybe a few minutes at best, and the injured Leaf Shinobi walked over to her, limping slightly from the burns and damage he had taken. He wasn't concerned, the sealing matrix he had created would not only seal off all her chakra, but as of now it had also restricted all her movement, rendering the woman barely able to speak as he closed with her, a small piece of paper clutched loosely in his hand, multiple Kanji already written across it. Naruto knelt next to her, and was about to mutter a small word of apology, when he heard the girl whisper something. "You didn't even have to use the chakra of your own Bijuu…"

If he was surprised that she knew what he contained, the blonde man didn't show it, simply shrugging and leaning down to roll her over on her back, his seal needed to be applied to his targets forehead to be completely effective. "Why didn't you use it?" He heard the green haired woman mutter, almost under her breath as he flipped her, cerulean eyes meeting auburn ones in the wake of the woman's defeat. Naruto looked over her prone and paralyzed form sadly, but happy on the inside that he had managed to take her alive, and without her hurting him too badly.

"Because I can't." Those proved to be the last words the petite verdette would ever hear as the Last Uzumaki brought his hand around, placed the sealing tag onto her head, and applied just enough chakra to activate it. The girl's eyes widened briefly, before they rolled into the back of her skull, her body convulsed once, more from shock than pain, before lines of kanji briefly spread from the tag all over the girls tanned skin, disappearing almost as soon as they appeared. The seal was a simple one, blocking all signals to and from the girl's nervous system, and rendering her in a pure comatose state until released. She'd feel no pain, and wouldn't wake up, would be able to channel no chakra or do anything at all until the sealing tag placed upon her head had been released.

As the victorious blonde stood up, preparing himself to grab the woman and leave the area, every fiber of his being screamed at him to move, dodge, to escape, but they all came a second too late. Too late did he notice the small, unassuming little spider crawl underneath his sandaled foot, exploding a split second later and launching the blonde away from the immobilized Jinchuriki, the former captain now placed on high alert as he righted himself, landing on his feet, his eyes already searching for his newest assailant, and it didn't take him long to find the man. But then again, a large, white bird landing on the ground and _eating_ the Jinchuriki he had just fought his ass off to beat and then subsequently subdue wasn't exactly subtle, either.

"I'm sorry, but I'll be taking this, yeah?" The blonde haired man spoke, Naruto recognizing the man instantly from the Bingo Book as Diedara, an S-Rank Missing Nin from Iwagakure. The wounded shinobi cursed under his breath. There was no way he was in any shape to fight a man like this, right after he had expended almost all of his chakra in a massive sealing array, multiple clones, and an excessive combination jutsu, maybe if he were fresh, but right now he didn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

"Aww, don't pout at me! Don't worry, little Mr. Jinchuriki, we'll be coming for you soon enough, yeah!" Diedara laughed, taunting the his fellow blonde as his large bird-shaped construct quickly took off from the ground, a large bulge evident in its 'stomach' from the captured form of the Nanabi Jinchuriki, Fuu. Naruto cursed lightly to himself, under his breath. The bastard had probably been watching his fight the entire time, letting him do all the hard work of subduing the demon container, before 'literally' swooping in and taking the spoils. The blonde Jounin was pissed. The Hokage wasn't going to like this, but as it was, he had absolutely no way of fighting this guy.

He sighed, shaking his head and clearing his thoughts. This was the third time he had run into the organization that had dubbed itself "Akatsuki", and all three times they had been vying to get the Jinchuriki. It was evident they weren't trying to kill them, no, the group always sent out members in the hopes of subduing the hosts, so they were obviously capturing them for a specific reason. What that was, he had no idea, but he figured he had better find out soon, because sooner or later just like the newest confirmed member of the organization had just warned him, they would be coming for him and his own nine-tailed tenant. As Naruto began his long, and now solo walk back towards Konoha's Forward Operating Base in Taki, he sighed softly to himself.

Silver lining? Takigakure no longer had a Jinchuriki, so with any luck the conflict on this front would be over quickly.

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _What?"_

 _Tsunade sighed. She'd known that this would likely be happen, especially with what information Jiraiya had given her regarding her long-distanced nephew's current situation. Apparently, from what she could tell, the boy's chakra coils were too dense for the potent youkai chakra to properly flow thorough them, to condensed for it to pass along the pathways in the proper way that it needed to. This meant that no matter how much the boy trained with it, no matter how much he tried to hone its use, he's never be able to master it. Hell, as he was now, he couldn't even utilize anything more than the smallest amount._

 _The busty Sannin had talked to Jiraiya about it, and the Toad Sage had confirmed for her that he had tried to train the boy in the usage, but every time that Naruto was able to call on anything more than a single tails worth of the chakra, he would double over in great pain, his body burning from the inside out as the chakra forced itself along his narrow pathways. Jiraiya had finally decided against training the young blonde in the usage of his demonic chakra, refusing to sacrifice his Godson's wellbeing for a power boost, no matter how significant it may be._

 _So when, during the blondes physical, she had brought it up, he had been understandably surprised to learn that he not only couldn't use the chakra of his tenant now, but that he would never be able to use it in anything more than a passive sense, that being his already accelerated healing factor, his Uzumaki Blood gaining a slight boost from it. "You heard me, Naruto. I said that you can't use the Fox's chakra, ever. Your chakra coils and pathways, they're far too dense for the massive youkai to flow through. It's like trying to force a bowling ball through a garden hose, you are more or less expanding them at an insufferable rate whenever you try."_

The medical professional of the Sannin sighed to herself, crossing her arms under her bust, and looking her blonde charge in his cobalt blue eyes as she spoke. "If you were to try and force this training on yourself, you will destroy your ability to mold and release Chakra, and you'll lose nearly all your ability as a shinobi, and you still wouldn't even be able to harness the demonic chakra."

 _Naruto held himself together, though on the inside he was furious, though at what, he wasn't sure. He was a goddamn Jinchuriki, who couldn't use his tenant's chakra? What the fuck kind of shit is that? The blonde wasn't going to lie, this dashed his hopes quite a bit for getting stronger-he'd heard stories of Kumo's Jinchuriki, 'Killer Bee', a man who had full command over his Bijuu, and the former captain was honestly very impressed. But now? Those hopes had been dashed. The blonde chucked to himself slightly, muttering something about 'how it could never be easy' before he thanked Tsunade, and left his Hokage-Mandated checkup._

 _He'd just have to train his ass off and become stronger another way. Plenty of other Shinobi had become legends in their own right without a demon sealed inside them, so he would become stronger_ despite _his burden._

 _How hard could it be?_

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Naruto flashed inside of his home, having just come from the Hokage's office upon his failed mission to capture the Taki Jinchuriki, Fuu. While he had succeeded in defeating and then sealing the girl, he had been unable to prevent her capture/stealing by the newest confirmed member of Akatsuki, Diedara, formerly of Iwagakure. His masked Hokage hadn't been upset with the turnout, but frustrated. Overall Kakashi had just seemed happy that his ninja had managed to come out of it all alive, considering the threats that had reared their heads while he had been gone.

As the blonde walked through the small but homely Namikaze Estate, he thought on the events that would soon be happening. With their Jinchuriki gone, taken off to some corner of the world nobody knew, Takigakure was almost certain to pull out of the war, paying their concessions of loss to Konoha and surrendering in the process to the standing military power. It wouldn't be long after that before there would likely be a large assault on Oto, likely with the standing orders of no prisoners. Orochimaru was sure to fight tooth and nail there, but the Konoha forces would stop him, or at least his bastardized military and ending the war.

That last part is what concerned the blonde Jounin, but it wasn't concern for himself, but rather for his redheaded girlfriend, Tayuya. She'd be facing her old comrades, and kami forbid, possibly even her own sister Guren in combat. That's something that no matter what one does, they cannot prepare for, the fighting of one's own kin. He'd talked with her about it, tried to convince her to not run missions in Oto out of his concern for her, but she hadn't listened. The fiery woman _insisted_ upon it, and to a degree, at least in a tactical mind set, it did make sense. She had formerly been a shinobi under charge of Orochimaru, and the woman knew the area.

It was selfish of him, he knew it, but he couldn't help but be worried about it all the same. Naruto shook his head briefly, clearing his mind as he opened the door to his room, and was happy to see the sleeping form of the woman that constantly ruled his thoughts under the covers in his bed. The blonde quickly changed out of his mission gear and into his sleepwear, before walking over to the bend, briefly raising the covers and sliding under them. He wasted no time in snuggling up to his lover, wrapping his arm around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck, taking in the scent of her hair and body, loving every second of his being with her.

"Shithead…?" The blondes eyes remained closed as he pulled his girlfriend's body closer to his, his arm tightening around her waist as he did so. Naruto leaned up slightly, moving his body over hers to kiss her lightly on the cheek as he listened to her sleepy voice breaking the silence, absentmindedly thinking that it was one of the most adorable things he had ever heard in his short life. The redhead leaned her head back into the blondes broad shoulder, raising her hand out behind her caress his face softly, before pulling it back down under the covers to hold his hand below them as the soft throes of sleep threatened to claim her again. "I'm glad you're home. I missed you."

Naruto chuckled softly as he held her. Tayuya was definitely still half asleep, it was one of the only few times she showed her kind and caring side, instead of the usual tough as nails kunoichi most knew her as. It never failed to surprise the blonde at the turn of events that had led the woman into his arms, but he would never complain about it. He had truly believed that he had found a diamond in the rough, and the blonde shinobi was going to do whatever it took to protect. The former captain had finally come to terms with it when he had faced down Diedara, more or less staring death in the face in the state he had been it.

The first thing that had flashed through his mind was that he was scared, not necessarily for himself, but that he wouldn't ever see her again. That he'd never see her beautiful brown eyes staring back at him in the morning, that he'd never hear her laugh at his antics or jokes again. He was mortified that he'd never be able to hold her again, or to tell her that he loved her. The blonde knew that his girlfriend knew about how he felt, but it was different, he had to tell her. So, after living together for so long, and then being together for even longer, Uzumaki Naruto leaned up, placing his lips near her ear, and whispered softly in it. "I Love You."

The blonde, feeling quite happy with himself at this point, laid back down on his bed, and closed his eyes, hopefully for a good and decently long sleep, only just barely catching the words that left Tayuya's mouth as he slipped over the edge, the woman still very much half asleep by the tone of her voice.

"…Love you too, Shithead."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Annnnnnnddddddd that's that! It's been revealed why Naruto can't use the fox's power, so that should throw a wrench in some things! Did my best on the whole fight with Fuu, Tried to write her as a typical 'berserker rage' Jinchuriki, and I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. In this world, the Bijuu are fuckin' mindless crazy beasts that aren't to be fucked with. There is no communicating with them. No talking to them and cuddling with them and shit. You poke a bear it'll kill you or die trying.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	15. Loss

**Welcome back to another exciting episode-I mean chapter of 'Immortalized'! Glad you guys seem to be enjoying the story so far, and just because I've heard the question a few times now, Naruto** _ **will not**_ **be using the patented 'Talk no Jutsu' for every encounter he has. He's a ninja, he neutralizes his enemies. Anyways, onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Loss**

* * *

The Last Uzumaki stood in the office of his Hokage, once more listening to the briefing for what would be his latest, and hopefully last mission of the war between the combined forces of Kusa, Taki, and Oto, and the forces of Konoha. It had been a somewhat drawn out war, with the Leaf Nin having to fight and crawl for every inch of territory that they captured, every outpost they overtook. Things had been pushed along by the few heavy hitters that Konoha had out on the front line, namely that several Jounin that had fought their own fair share of battles, such as Sarutobi Asuma, the now sole survivor of the Sarutobi clan and former member of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi of the Daimyo.

Additionally, there was Konoha's Green Beast Maito Gai, who through his amazing Taijutsu had personally taken down enemy after enemy, and all while never losing his trademark grin and shouts of youth. There was also Yuhi Kurenai, who despite being quite young when she had attained her rank and specializing in Genjutsu, had assisted in taking her own fair share of enemy installations, more often than not providing superb support through her talents. But even these three talents Jounin's feats didn't hold a candle to the lone blonde in the room, who by anyone's account had done far more than his fair share for the war effort.

Any ninja you talked to, from the lowest Genin to the ANBU that operated in silence on the front themselves, would tell you that on some point they had shared a foxhole with the blue eyed man, or that they had witnessed him decimating the enemy through the use of his father's own modified Hiraishin technique, some would even claim that they had been there in the aftermath of an attack, watching as the man plowed through ninja after ninja, moving so fast that the blood of his fallen enemies never touched his clothing.

Then there were the stories about him, though he never spread them himself. People talked, and rumors spread, such as the one about him taking on and killing the Takigakure Jinchuriki in single combat, killing the woman in the process. There was also the rumors about him fighting the man who had been able to use his own bones as a weapon, again coming out on top. Naruto's exploits had built him into something of a legend within the Konoha ranks, very similar to what his father the Yondaime had been able to do when he had been fighting in the Third Shinobi World War. He wouldn't lie and say he didn't like the attention, there were definitely days where the hopeful eyes of the men and women under his command pushed him onward, spurring him to fight harder.

They had put their faith in the last member of the Uzumaki Clan, and he'd be damned if he let them down by allowing this war to go on any longer than it needed to. It was stupid really, the way he felt about it, wanting to and needing to try and prevent the most damage to his ninja, but as a commander in the Konoha Shinobi Forces, he felt it was his duty to do all he could to prevent any unnecessary suffering that his men could undertake. This, combined with his promise and shown attitude to never make anyone under his command do anything he wasn't willing to do himself had proven the trust and faith he had in them, and them in him, time and time again. He had become a symbol, a beacon to follow and an object to strive for and rally behind, just as his Hokage had planned for him.

For as lazy and apathetic as the masked man seemed to act, Hatake Kakashi had a truly brilliant tactical and strategic mindset, rivaling that of only the best members of the Nara clan, and with Nara Shikaku as one of his chief advisors on his War Council, there wasn't much the two hadn't planned for or planned around. Which is why when the two had called for an urgent meeting of certain high level Shinobi a mere few days after the confirmed surrender of Takigakure to Konohagakure, the Uzumaki had flashed into the office of his leader as soon as he was able, being tardy in this case was not an option, not when every second counted, especially this close to the end of the war.

Gathered in the room with the Blonde Jounin and the Hokage were several Jounin, all powerful in their own right, and all were patiently awaiting their own orders as they were briefed on the current situation by the Hokage himself and Nara Shikaku, as well as various members of Konoha's Intelligence Corps. The geopolitical situation was a positive one, generally. The Konoha forces had seeming forced the opposing Otogakure shinobi into their final corner, and both sides were gearing up for what would hopefully be the final battle of the war. There was to be a massive assault on the Oto encampment, and each of them would be playing a part in it.

While there was to be a mass movement against the main forced that would be led primarily by Asuma and Gai, both taking a large contingent of Shinobi and attacking on two separate fronts of the final Oto base, but this was only a diversion for the main forces of Sound Shinobi, so that the real strike team could move in behind the lines and strike at the head of the snake itself, Orochimaru. The team that would be moving towards this goal would consist of Naruto, and the Toad Sage Jiraiya, the two largest heavy hitters of the Leaf aside from the Hokage himself. If anyone was going to be able to kill the serpent, it was going to be one of them. Additionally, they'd be bringing also be bringing Tayuya, as she had firsthand knowledge of the basic layout of the Snake Sannin's bases, and may be able to help navigate them.

At least, that was the plan. And if all went well, then this time next week the war would be over, and Konohagakure could begin healing from this lengthy and hard process of combat and loss. Soon, but not before this final, definitive battle had taken place. As each member of the respective teams left to prepare for their coming fights, moving to gather everything they needed from weapons to cigarettes, one thought was constantly flowing through everyone's mind.

This was it.

* * *

 _Flashback- The Night Before_

" _You're sure you're ready to do this? This isn't something to take lightly. These people were you old comrades, maybe not your friends, but still-they know how yo-". Naruto was cut off as his redheaded girlfriend abruptly turned around from readying her gear, glaring at him with her dark chocolate eyes as she stood up, walking up to her lover and standing only a few inches from him, looking directly into his cobalt orbs as she spoke back in her typical boisterous manner._

" _Shut the fuck up about it. If I wasn't ready or didn't want to fuckin' do it, I wouldn't have told the fuckin' Hokage that I could help out with it." The woman looked down a little bit, a few strands of her wayward red hair falling about her face as she reached forward and grabbed the blonde's hands, holding them softly in her own as he looked up at the taller man. "Besides, you'll be there and so will that perverted jackass of a Sage. I'm not fucking worried, alright?"_

 _Naruto sighed softly, blinking his eyes closed for a moment, clearing his mind as he pulled himself out of his worried stupor. "Alright, alright. I trust you, but if you're going in there with us, you're going to want this." The blonde pulled away from her, walking away and to the side of his bed, reaching under it and pulling out a small, wooden box, handing it to the redhead who wasted no time in opening it. In her hand, she held a small black flute, not too dissimilar from her old one, save for the color and the small Uzumaki crest that was adorned near the top, in a light red, the same shade as her hair._

 _She hid it well, but Tayuya was honestly touched by the gesture. This was Naruto's way of not only acknowledging her as a kunoichi by giving her the combat flute and dropping the subject of her joining him, but he was also telling her that she was a part of his family, if the crest of his kin was anything to go by. As she rolled it over in her hands, taking in every detail of the obsidian instrument, she was nearly startled by the rough, lightly tanned ones of her lover covering her own._

 _As she looked up into his eyes, the redhead could visibly see the concern in his eyes as he spoke. "When we're in there, if it looks bad, you run. I go down, Jiraiya goes down, you run, understand?" Tayuya moved her lips to speak, to protest, to do anything, really, but the blonde stopped her by squeezing her hands gently, both partners gazing deep into each other's eyes, blue meeting brown._ "You run." _The redhead nodded, and the grip on her hands lessened as he held her. The next day wasn't going to be easy on anyone, but Naruto would be able to rest in confidence knowing she would leave if and when it got rough._

 _The Blonde Jounin honestly didn't know what he would do without his Love, sometimes it felt that she was the only thing in this crazy world that was keeping him sane._

 _End Flashback- The Night Before_

* * *

The blonde shinobi cleared his mind from his thought of the night prior when the sounds of combat reached his ears. Inclining his head slightly he could hear it, the distinct sounds of battle could be heard, coming from two separate directions. The former captain smirked, everything so far was going according to plan. Stepping forward from the foliage he had been concealed in and dropping his "Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Hiding with Camouflage Technique)" he looked briefly to his left and right, watching as the Toad Sage and inventor of the jutsu he had just used stepped out of the shadows on his left, the woman he loved moving dropping down from the trees above to stand at his right side.

Confirming that all three were set to move, Tayuya took the lead, channeling chakra to her legs as they bounded through the last throes of the forestry, quickly coming upon the walled compound from the Southeast, and one of the few directions that wasn't currently being attacked in the multipronged assault on Otogakure from Konoha. The three hit the wall of the village, pressing their backs to it and waiting briefly as Naruto and Jiraiya set a quick penetration seal to work on it. Moments later, there was a small, yet distinct thud as a tiny portion of the wall was cut and blown inwards, the chakra restrictive material crumbling under the power of the sealing matrix made by the two adept Fuuinjutsu users. There was a brief moment of silence, and then the three members were inside the compound moving rapidly, once again with the redheaded kunoichi leading the way.

They hadn't been moving for very long inside the area, though Tayuya insisted that they were getting close, before things started to go awry. As the three ducked and spun around one of the many corners in the complex, several things happened very suddenly. The blonde of the group was only just able to call out a warning as a large wall of pink crystal shot down the alleyway they were in, directly at neck level and clearly intent on decapitating the members of the group, had they all not dodged the attack.

Naruto grabbed his blood haired lover, flashing to the Hiraishin seal he had placed on Jiraiya as the man had jumped, all three landing on the top of the nearest building, facing down their opponents as they appeared, one by one on the opposing roof, each one glaring, and except of one member, dressed very similarly. The blonde glanced over to his girlfriend quickly, not missing her clenching her hands tightly, and gritting her teeth as she looked over her opponents. He didn't miss her growling under her breath either, the words coming out in no small amount of anger. "…The Sound Four…"

The blonde looked over at Jiraiya, the large broad shouldered man standing slightly to his left, making eye contact and nodding before both of them shot off towards the enemies, Naruto making a small mass of clones as he did so. Four of Naruto's clones rushed off in separate directions, each on grabbing ahold of a small scroll that the original threw to them as they moved, already flashing through a set of seals as they moved. He glanced over to the team of enemies, watching briefly as Jiraiya and a small number of clones engaged them, before he turned on his heel and threw one of his special Hiraishin Kunai out of the area that was going to be fought in, watching with satisfaction as it impacted on the wall of a far building, before he felt four simultaneous pulses of chakra from his clones, flashing his hands through his own set of brief seals, smashing both of them into the ground.

"Bariashīringu Gijutsu: Kogetsuki-kō no Mekakushi Dōmu! (Barrier Sealing Technique: Blinding Dome of Scorching Light!)". Before anyone inside the immediate area was able to move, enormous strings of kanji shot out in four directions from Naruto's palm, cascading out towards the four clones he had sent out earlier, each one dispelling as the scrolls they had been conducting their chakra burned to ash, a large dome of bright white light growing around them all, starting at the ground and moving up, forming into a large dome, trapping all inside. The blonde shinobi stood up, flashing to Jiraiya, grabbing ahold of him and flashing to the kunai he had thrown earlier, outside of the barrier, turning to face the older man.

"Go, get the Snake before he leaves the area, the jackass is probably already preparing to escape. Tayuya and I can handle these guys." Before the Toad Sage could respond, Naruto had flashed back inside the barrier, to the seal he had placed on Tayuya, appearing next to her and staring down the four members of Orochimaru's personal guard, his eyes narrowing. Outside, Jiraiya had merely shrugged, his Godson was strong, if he said he could handle this, then he would have to trust him, and the younger blonde was right, his old teammate was probably already trying to escape, and if they didn't get him now, then it might be years before they had him cornered. With those final thoughts, the perverted Sannin took off, leaving the large white barrier behind him.

* * *

Inside the barrier, the air was tense, so much so a rusty butter knife could have shredded it with ease. On one side of the barrier stood the forces of Konoha, a young blonde man, an ornate katana slung across his back, dressed in simple back loose fitting pants with a kunai pouch on his right thigh, that were taped up around his ankles, his feet clad in a pair of unassuming combat sandals. He wore a tight, form fitting sleeveless green shirt that had a crest displayed proudly on the back, a dark red swirl. On each hand, there was a pair of dark gray fingerless gloves, and there were many scars upon his arms. His eyes were a steely blue, while his hair was a dull yellow, his long locks tied into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck, his bangs framing his angular face, his baby fat having left him long ago. There was a standard black Hitai-Ite tied tightly around his waist, the leaf insignia falling slightly over the long, tattered blue scarf that served as a sash, fluttering in the wind.

To his side stood a woman, the blondes only ally in the dome, and soon to be kill zone. The wore the now standardized black combat sandals, choosing to keep her feet bare, leaving only a small amount of bandages wrapping her ankles for a small amount of support. Moving up past her long slender legs was a pair of short, and tight black spandex shorts, with a brown combat skirt that had a slit up the center over it, stopping at her mid-thigh over it. The skirt was held up by a thin combat styled black belt that had been custom made, and contained a special sheathe for her combat flute, in addition to the normal pouches for her shuriken and kunai. Her upper body was clothed in a black compression shirt on underneath a gray, slightly looser fitting shirt, the sleeves stopping just under her elbows. Her hair was held back by the Konoha Hitai-Ite that she proudly wore on her forehead, a small tuft of hair falling down between her eyes, the rest of her gorgeous red hair falling around behind her on her shoulders.

Across from them, glaring at the invaders, were the Sound Four. All but one of them were dressed similarly, their attire being a black shirt under a tan tunic with elbow-length sleeves. The tunic itself bore the symbol of the Sound Four and Oto on the hem, with their legs being clad in black skin-tight shorts. All of them wore black arm-warmers, as well as traditional black shinobi sandals with calf-length leg warmers covered by bandages, and each member wore a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around their waist. The one member who hadn't adhered to the standard, had traded her tunic for a battle kimono, green in nature, a flower adorning the side.

The forces of Sound and Leaf faced off against one another, no words needing to be passed in their standoff. Each was here to prevent the other from completing their objective, and while the Oto shinobi had a clear numbers advantage at the moment, it was unknown as to which party would be leaving the battlefield to fight another day. The blonde man looked to his counterpart, worried for her, but based on a purely mental state. Fighting one's kin was never easy, and though Tayuya had insisted upon being the one to fight her sister, Naruto was still concerned. Nodding his head slightly, the blonde shot forward, splitting the group on enemy shinobi in two, forcing the three men of the enemy force away and to the left, the lone female of the previous Sound Four allowing him to do so, seemingly not even caring as he and his clones forced his enemies some distance away from the two women.

Guren smirked as the blonde sped past her, throwing his enemies away from the two of them, before she returned her attention to her younger sister, addressing her condescendingly. "So… look who came all the way back to Otogakure. Was it just to see little old me?" Tayuya smirked, he fingers twitching once before her flute seemed to fly into her hands and up to her lips as she began to play her melody, the tune flowing from the end of the obsidian plated instrument softly and melodiously.

A Symphony of Death.

* * *

Naruto stood across from the three members of Orochimaru's personal guard, staring each one of them down, personally. Moving his cold, cobalt eyes from one to the other, his eyes narrowing more and more as he quickly ran through all the data he had on them, knowing he could trust it as it had come from Tayuya herself. He trusted her with his life, mind body and soul, so he inhaled, and exhaled, watching as the three men prepared themselves for the coming fight, determined to do whatever he could to keep them from his girlfriend. She would beat Guren. She _had_ to.

The blonde settled his gaze on the largest of the three, the man named he knew to be named Jirōbō. According to Tayuya, he was the physically strongest member of the Sound Four but the weakest overall in terms of combat prowess. The man was a strong user of Doton Jutsu (Earth Release), and his cursed seal would increase his strength dramatically. Additionally, the man could absorb chakra through physical contact with his target, so he made a quick mental not to avoid Taijutsu with this one lest he wanted to end up a used and empty battery.

Shifting his eyes right, he landed on the form of Kidōmaru, an odd looking thin man who had a total of eight appendages, six of them being arms. Though it was reported that he was quite the intelligent fighter, it had also been confirmed by Tayuya that the man used some form of 'spider-like' Ninjutsu, and the ability to make spider webs by infusing his spit or sweat with chakra. Kidōmaru could use these webs to bind, trap, or sense enemies, and furthermore these threads were extremely sticky, yet durable and elastic, unable to be cut by normal blades. His cursed seal made his attacks more potent, and the webbing stronger, and he could apparently 'see' chakra in the level two mode.

And finally the blondes eyes settled on the final form of Sakon, the man's codependent twin Ukon still in hiding on his body, somewhere. These two were supposed to be the fastest and strongest member of the Sound Four, though his redhead had noted that Sakon liked to prolong the fight by toying with the opponent and using unnecessarily powerful techniques to show off. The Twins were supposedly very skilled in Taijutsu and possessed incredibly quick reflexes, and when they had activated the second level of their cursed seal, they were able to physically merge with an opponent's body, deconstructing them at a molecular level before leaving and reconstructing their own bodies.

All in all, this didn't bode well for him. For all he knew their abilities could have changed over the last couple years that Tayuya had been in the Leaf. And even if they hadn't, because of their abilities and curse seals alone they were all at least Jounin level, if not slightly higher. But, Naruto knew himself, and he knew his abilities, and he was confident in both of them to a fault. Plus, he wanted to hurry this up so he could get back to Tayuya and help her finish her own fight. He still didn't approve of the woman fighting her sister all on her own, but he trusted her, and if she said that it was something that she could handle, then it was something that he would trust her on. She had never let him down before, and he didn't expect her to now.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" And with those simple words he was off, shooting across the rooftop towards the three men in a burst of speed, appearing before Kidōmaru and delivering a spinning kick to the man's chest, launching the unprepared spider-man _(spidah-man!)_ away from him, before he planted both feet firmly on the ground and launched himself into the air by exploding his chakra from his feet outwards, as if he had messed up the tree climbing technique. One at the apex of his leap, Naruto quickly began spinning, multiple tri-pronged kunai now littering the area, allowing the man to flash in between them at will, an advantage he would put into great effect during the coming conflict.

However, it wasn't as if the four members of the Sound Four were just standing idly by, Ukon had already separated from Sakon, and was no somewhere in the area, having merged with one of the buildings, looking for an opening on their blonde opponent. Kidōmaru had also sprang into action, producing his tried and true primary weapon, his bow and created multiple arrows to go with it after recovering from the blonde's surprise attack, and Jirōbō, being nothing but a Taijutsu specialist with only a few basic Ninjutsu to compliment his own unique style, had settled into a stance, and was attempting to follow Naruto's movements with his eyes.

The blonde shinobi had already begun flashing around the kunai he had placed, watching in mild curiosity as the large Jirōbō continuously turned, attempting to follow his rapid movements, but finding himself unable to. However, the other two didn't seem to be concerned with him at all, both just watching his few movements so far as both teams evaluated each other, before Naruto made his decision. Jirōbō was clearly the weakest of the three, from all the Intel he had and from what he had seen, so the large man would be eliminated first. The blonde man was in his full 'ANBU' mindset, nothing mattered but himself, his objective, and the enemy.

He knew himself, inside and out, there was nothing to be concerned with there. His objective was simple, neutralize the enemy and return to Tayuya as quickly as possible. His enemy was in sight, and the trigger had been pulled. Naruto flashed into existence in front of Jirōbō, two clones appearing on either side of the man, catching him in a trifecta of blonde shinobi, all three of them calling out the names of their attack in unison, fully intent on killing the man in a single hit. "Fūton: Senpūken! (Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist!)".

Three fists clad completely in the volatile nature that is wind chakra impacted the large frame of Jirōbō in three separate places, one striking his back left shoulder blade, another finding his right side just above his kidney, the third and final one impacting him just below where his heart would be. The fists pierced the man's body, each one easily drilling inside of him as his face contorted in pain. After the hands came to a halt inside of him though, is where things got worse, as the small typhoons that were around each fist dispersed, spinning the man on the outside, and obliterating his insides as well. The original Naruto had already flashed away, his clones dispersing, before he was forced on the defensive, now dodging and blocking the rapid arrows coming from Kidōmaru, his trusted sword falling into his grasp as he briefly backpedaled.

Sakon, Ukon, and Kidōmaru had wasted no time in activating the first level of their curse seals after seeing what had happened to the slow reacting Jirōbō, they didn't even know if he had somehow survived the blonde's brutal assault, and if they weren't careful, they would be cannon fodder as well. So Kidōmaru had quickly summoned his bow, the black lines of his cursed seal of heaven passing across his body, and began firing off the arrows he created, his own special spider-like Ninjutsu automatically attaching strings to the back of every arrow, his web already forming over the blondes own map of kunai.

Ukon was still unaccounted for, though the others had felt the spike from his chakra as he activated his own cursed seal, still moving about seemingly undetected, under the surface of the buildings as his brother Sakon was desperately dodging the attacks of the lone Leaf Nin, his amazing reflexes that he had honed over the years keeping him alive, if only just. The man was only taking minor cuts, having deftly moved out of the way of a couple Rasengan's, but unable to dodge a couple of his faster kunai strikes. Naruto seemed to be tilting of this, though and had apparently decided on taking him out first, favoring him over his long range fighting compatriot. Beginning to flash through seals mid flash, Naruto appeared a few yards in front of the man, having finished his seals and letting out a large burst of flame with completion of his jutsu.

"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!)", as he said it, the blonde leaned back, before thrusting his head forward and blowing the white hot fire from his mouth, his hands already flowing through the seals for a follow up jutsu to compliment the one screaming down at Sakon, never noticing Ukon appearing next to him through the blaze as he called out his second technique. "Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)", the huge gale of wind leaving his lips in the same breath, complimenting and enlarging the blaze he had already sent towards the men. Naruto quickly began his tried and true evasion method of flashing around, beginning to look for the form of Kidōmaru, the arachnid like man having relocated during his spread of Ninjutsu.

"Kuchiyose: Rashōmon! (Summoning Jutsu: Rashōmon!)" The blonde Jounin of Konoha was caught off guard at the sound of not one, but two voices calling out the name of the technique, and his head whipped around over his shoulder, now able to see the large demonic gate that had blocked his attack against the twin brother, both of them standing firm behind it as Ukon merged with Sakon. Then, from the man's body emerged an additional arm and leg, giving the man additional limbs, making the blonde sigh softly to himself, that would certainly make Taijutsu more difficult, if it came to that.

Before he was able to lament on it though, he was forced to quickly bend over backwards, falling back and catching himself in a bridge as several arrows passed over his head, impacting on the now vanishing gate. As the blonde flashed himself to one of his kunai, he noticed something as he turned to face the approaching Sakon/Ukon. His flashpoints were vanishing, he could no longer feel them like he normally could. Usually, he could feel them, in the back of his mind, and upon focusing on one of them, he could pick up its immediate surroundings and flash himself to it in his usual spark of blue.

But now, he was feeling less and less of his flashpoints, almost as if the seals themselves were being neutralized. This wasn't good, it was limiting him quite severely in his evasive maneuvers, and he'd now be forced to rely on pure speed unless he could figure out how his seals were being destroyed or in the very least, neutralized, since he could clearly still see his kunai lying around the battlefield, and that's when he saw it. There were small, almost unperceivable arrows sticking out of the base of every one of his kunai, the seals disabled as the arrows had cut the handle of each one in half, destroying the space/time Fuuinjutsu seal his father had created.

Cursing lightly as one of the second stage Sakon/Ukon attacks nailed his arm and forced him back, Naruto flashed to one of his last remaining kunai, he _needed_ to find out where Kidōmaru had vanished to, and stop him before he ran out of tricks. As his sixth sense screamed at him, the blonde vanished in a flash of blue, reappearing at the kunai he had thrown just then into the wall, glancing over his shoulder as he flipped around, noticing for the first time that the large man he had thought he killed was very much alive, and very much pissed off, if the scowl over his black body was anything to go by.

Naruto began to speed around the battlefield, now only relying on his speed, which though it was great was still nothing compared to the Hiraishin. He needed to find out where the fucking spider guy had gotten to, so he could deal with him and begin working on killing his other two opponents. He shifted his gaze back to the now towering Jirōbō, and had he not been in a life or death scenario, he would have been impressed. The man had not one, not two, but three very large and visible holes decorating his body, and though he was in his second stage of his cursed seal, he was _still_ gunning for blood, though it seemed he was little more than a berserker now, even his own teammates were trying to steer clear of the rampaging man.

However, as the blonde shinobi had become quite aware from his many years as a shinobi, when an enemy went into a berserker rage they were easy and simple to take down, all one had to do was dodge their attacks, and out think them, be it a seal or sometimes just plain old brute force, the latter of which he was quite good at. Naruto ducked underneath the man's insanely large arm as he swung at him, the blonde spinning around behind him as they stood briefly, back to back. The enraged and strong Jirōbō turned slowly, his bulk compromising his strength, and by the time he had turned fully to face his enemy, there were three blondes facing him, each rushing through hand seals as they called out their techniques.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no _Jutsu!_ (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!)" "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!) "Katon: Hiendan! (Fire Release: Soaring Flame Bullets!)". The three flame attacks blasted out of each clones mouth, striking the hulk of the man dead on, him too slow to dodge at such a close range. The flames burned what remained of his clothes off entirely, leaving the man as naked as the day he was born, but it wasn't to last as hi charred and nearly destroyed body was annihilated further by the original Naruto, himself appearing via a quick substitution with a roof tile behind the man driving both of his hands as hard as he could into the man's back, the large blue glowing balls of energy in his hands impacting directly on Jirōbō's shoulder blades.

"Chōōdama Rasengan!" Both balls of energy were rotating different directions, the one in his left moving outboard and the energy in his right doing the same. Their effect was instantaneous. While not only drilling into the man, the opposing forces had spun against each other, with the berserker caught in the middle, before he was torn in half, a jagged split straight up the middle of the man's body, before both halves of the man were launched in different directions by the younger Blonde's destructive jutsu. Naruto grinned to himself, it had been costly, but worth it, he noted as he looked down at the two chakra laced arrow that had pierced his body, one in his thigh, another in his bicep.

As he began dodging the myriad of attacks facing his way again he was able to finally pinpoint the lone spiderlike man's location, Kidōmaru having been constantly moving alongside the other buildings that littered the area. After dodging yet another three limbed attack that came from the thing that had become Sakon/Ukon in their second stage released form, Naruto spun and threw a kunai with all his strength at the currently wall running Kidōmaru, who had also released his second state curse seal, and began drawing his bow back for another shot, the man's third eye easily helping him hone in on it, before he released and split the knife in half, destroying it.

What he missed though, was the second kunai traveling in the shadow of the first that was closing fast with him, too fast for him to nock and fire another shot. Mentally cursing himself, he wasn't prepared for what happened next. Naruto appeared in front of the man, and using the forward momentum of his throw, planted a double footed kick into the man's sternum, before he reached into the small crater he had created, grabbing the man by the robe he wore as a belt, throwing him high into the air, a kunai following him immediately after. When Kidōmaru reached the apex of his arc as was just beginning to recover from the kick, the blonde shinobi appeared again, repeating the process and launching him even higher, before he repeated the process not once, but three more times, bring both men to within just a few meters of the very top of the barrier.

Once the final throw had happened, Naruto kicked off of Kidōmaru, launching himself at the barrier and then rotated his body midflight so his feet would impact first. Channeling chakra to his feet, the blonde stood briefly on the top zenith of the dome he had created, watching at the stunned spider-esque man flew up to within a mere foot of him, before the Leaf Nin grinned maliciously, before he flashed to the seal he had placed on the man's back, imitating him and for all purposes being his shadow, whispering in a barely concealed voice as he did so _. "_ Kage Buyō. (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.)".

As Naruto forced open the first of the Eight Inner Gates, he felt the immense rush of power that comes with it, before mentally chastising himself, and reminding himself to shut it back down after this move. He raised his arms slightly out to the sides, ninja wire seemingly flowing from his fingertips as it wrapped out the stunned form of Kidōmaru, restraining him before he was pulled close to the blonde, their heads rotating towards the ground, the two of them picking up speed exponentially as they dropped, spinning counterclockwise so fast it was even threatening to make the blonde sick as he screamed the name of the pile driving technique. "Omote Renge! (Primary Lotus!)".

The explosion from their impact upon the ground was enormous. The two had first impacted the roof of a building, but due to the destructive nature of the technique itself, and then adding on the immense altitude that the duo had been at before Naruto initiated the move, and the destructive force of it was absolutely astounding, and Kidōmaru had taken every ounce of it, bar none. The blonde shinobi jumped from the rather large crater he had been in, looking down one last time at the mangled and broken body of the spider shinobi, taking in every mangled limb, every bone out of place, all of it, before turning away and moving back towards where he could sense Sakon/Udon at, his unrefined chakra pulses acting as his guiding moonlight to take him there.

The blonde grimaced, he had once been just like the Oto shinobi were, bloodthirsty and angered, ready to exact whatever vengeance he deemed necessary on his enemies for his losses. This had, of course, bee directly after the death of Konohamaru mainly, but the deaths of Moegi, Udon, and their sensei, Ebisu hadn't helped either, and for the first several missions during the war, Naruto had been a pure, unadulterated menace to anyone he came across that bore the Hitai-Ite of an enemy. It had only been after several long talks with both Jiraiya and Tayuya that he had been pulled from his anger, able to return to his normal self. It hadn't been easy, but he had done it.

The blonde had only just come into contact with Sakon/Udon, throwing several kunai around the man and beginning to flash to them, when he heard the scream. Flashing a safe distance away from the Oto Shinobi, Naruto turned his head over his shoulder, and in seemingly slow motion, his bangs brushing across his face, his eyes widening in horror, his blood running cold, the blondes body tensed, his heart feeling as though he had taken one of Kakashi's Raikiri's straight through it. At the opposite end of the barrier was a kneeling Tayuya, with her older sister Guren kneeling in front of the redhead, only mere inches away. It wasn't that sight which caused the blonde to scream out her name in anguish, tears already forming in the corners of his eyes.

It was the sight of Guren's crystal enshrouded hand, puncturing through the redhead's right breast, through her still-beating heart, and out of her back, blood soaking it clean through.

* * *

 _Flashback- During Naruto's Battle with Sakon, Ukon, Jirōbō, and Kidōmaru_

 _So… look who came all the way back to Otogakure. Was it just to see little old me?" Tayuya smirked, he fingers twitching once before her flute seemed to fly into her hands and up to her lips as she began to play her melody, the tune flowing from the end of the obsidian plated instrument softly and melodiously. It was of course, laden with Genjutsu, that was what the redhead had been known for during her time in Otogakure, and as part of the Sound Four, but she'd soon change that. Tayuya had been training, and in the eyes of many she had significantly improved in many areas of the Ninja Arts, though her Genjutsu was still her strongest aspect._

 _This battle was more than just a distraction, or holding back the enemies reinforcements while Jiraiya dealt with the Snake Sannin, this was a conflict of willpower and differing ideologies. Her sister Guren, had always been the prodigal daughter, inheriting their families Kekkie Genkai and honing her combat abilities, and even when they had first joined up with Oto, Guren had quickly become one of the top competitors, and when she was chosen as Orochimaru's newest host there had been no pulling the woman down from the pedestal she had placed herself upon, until she had found out that because of her body being damaged by her life-force sucking chakra enhancement technique she was no longer a suitable subject._

 _But she was getting ahead of herself. In the beginning, it had only been Guren and Her, two sisters on the road, living off of what they could. She couldn't quite remember why they had left their parents, just that the two girls had, and that Guren had decided that they needed to. Tayuya had idolized her older sister then, thinking she could do no wrong. And how could she have been wrong? Her sister did everything for her, fed her, clothed her, comforted her, Guren had taken care of the little redhead for years. She had even been the one to buy Tayuya her first flute, the young girl taking to it immediately._

 _It hadn't been long after that that they had been approached by Orochimaru himself. He had offered to take them in, and Guren, after seeing a small demonstration of the man's power, had followed after him. Tayuya refused to let her older sister leave her, so she had gone as well. Had she known what would follow, she would have done anything but. But one can't go back and undo the past, so now she was dealing with the consequences. Things had been alright in Oto, for a short time. Both girls, being so young, had been doted on by some of the older shinobi, and they were looked after. Then the two girls began to grow apart. Guren began training with her crystal release Kekkie Genkai, while Tayuya had begun training in Genjutsu. After the girls turned twelve though, things got bad._

 _First, Tayuya had been branded with the Cursed Seal of Heaven, and she had barely lived through the ordeal. She had begged her sister to help her leave after that, but she had almost refused to even see her recovering sister, only visiting her once and even then, calling her weak. Things had gotten progressively worse after that, Tayuya had been incredibly weak for several weeks after her run with the curse mark, and during that time, after a few men had found out about this, they had taken advantage of her, again and again. Several men had done things to her, horrible, disgusting things that would make even the lowest of the low sick, but they still happened._

 _There had been one instance where Guren had even caught two men in the act of raping her, Tayuya still so weakened from the recent seal placed upon her she could do little more than scream, and after the two women had made eye contact, Tayuya's chocolate orbs begging for help through her tears, Guren had muttered the word 'weak', before walking on, leaving her. Tayuya had resented her sister for so long after that, more or less forsaking her to Orochimaru. She no longer cared. All she wanted was out of Oto. And then, just like that, her chance had been granted, not exactly like she had imagined, but still. She may have woken up in a Konoha prison cell, but even there she was still treated with the basic respect of humanity. Once she had joined Konoha and befriended the blonde she'd one day come to love, the rest was history._

 _It was because of him, that Tayuya had been able to grow as a person. Because of him, the redhead had been able to look beyond her hatred for her sister and forgive her for the purplette's transgressions against her, though she would never, ever forget. Naruto had been happy for her, genuinely happy for the redhead when she had told him that she had finally let go, and he had let her cry happily upon his shoulder as she did so. It was because of the blonde that so many things in her life had changed. Her village, her outfit, hell, even her skillset had changed under the blonde Jounin's recommendation. She'd branched out from her Genjutsu, discovering her chakra nature as Suiton, and in the few years she'd been in Konoha, she'd learnt a lot._

 _It was during her fight that she had shown who she was, battling her older sister breaking technique after technique, throwing jutsu after jutsu at each other, until finally, Guren knelt at her feet, barely able to stand, her kimono in tatters, her hair strewn haphazardly around her face, cuts and bruises littering her body as the woman hung her head low. Tayuya had stood in front of her for what seemed like hours, until she had finally spoke. "Guren…" She began slowly, almost timidly, before her resolve strengthened and she nearly shouted. "Guren look at me!"_

" _What do you want from me?" The violet haired woman asked, her tear stained eyes staring into the brown unmarred ones of her sister. Tayuya dropped to one knee, and then the other, the two sisters and kunoichi of different villages staring each other in the face for what was truly the first time in years. Tayuya spoke softly, this time, her voice only just above a whisper._

" _I want you to know, in your final moments, that I forgive you… for everything. No matter what you did to me before, or didn't do, you'll always be my sister, Guren." Tayuya leaned in and hugged her sister for the first time in nearly a decade, holding back her own tears. She wasn't going to lie, the redhead hoped sincerely that there was some part of her sister still alive inside of the purplette that would come to her senses and leave with them, back to Konoha. She knew that Naruto would be able to find a place for her there, the blonde had a way with wor-._

 _Tayuya's thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of a pinch on her left breast, the breath in her throat catching in her lungs, as she slowly let go of her sister and looked down, Guren's crystal covered hand protruding from her chest, and though she couldn't turn her head anymore for some reason, she felt it sticking out of her back as well. There was a scream, it sounded almost like her name, but who was calling? She recognized the voice… but the redhead couldn't place it. She was just tired, so very tired… and wasn't she supposed to be in pain? Nothing hurt at all, she didn't feel good, but she wasn't hurting, either._

 _There was suddenly a face in front of her, who was that? Oh right, Naruto…her Shithead. She loved him so much, especially his blue eyes…they were so pretty. Did she tell him how much she loved her? She needed to do that, he needed to know that…_

* * *

Jiraiya jumped down to area he could only assume was the battlefield, before swiftly running across it towards the only live chakra signature in the area, stopping as he neared it, still clutching what remained of his left arm, mouth agape at the sight that was before him on the ground. To one side laid a woman, her body so brutalized it would have been impossible to recognize her. There were cuts and slices, broken bones all over her, the woman had been broken again and again until there was nothing left of her. To his right, the Toad Sage noted that there was another figure, a man he assumed.

The second body was in no better shape than that of the girl, its head having been severed along with two of its limbs, and that was just the beginning of it. Jiraiya tore his gaze from it to look at the sight in front of him, Naruto, covered in blood and earth from head to toe, his eyes puff and cheeks stained from his tears, kneeling in the mud, his sword next to him, shoulders slumped in utter defeat, even though all his enemies laid dead before him, and though the war had been ended with the death of Orochimaru at the hands of Jiraiya.

In Naruto's hands was the lifeless body of Tayuya.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This chapter sucks. I'm sorry, I'm just… ouch. I'm not crying, you're crying.**


	16. Consuming Regret

**Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! The last chapter was pretty brutal, and if you saw it coming, congratulations, if not then I threw you for a loop. Anyways, the War Arc is now coming to a close, though this story is still far from over. Just to answer a few questions that came up in the reviews: No, this will** _ **not**_ **be a Naru/Hina pairing, however, there will be another girl in Naruto's future. It's still somewhat undecided as to** _ **who**_ **it will end up being, but rest assured I won't let him end the tale alone.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Consuming Regret**

* * *

Blood. Gore. It was everywhere across the battlefield, the Sannin noticed as he slowly and carefully approached his kneeling protégé. The former sector of the village that the blonde shinobi had sealed off in an effort to buy Jiraiya time to deal with Orochimaru no longer stood as it once had. Nearly every building in the vicinity had been collapsed at some point, with only one or two of the smaller ones actually remaining standing, the rest either used as collateral damage in an attack or destroyed in the aftermath of one. The old, white haired Sage had seen many battlefields, and partaken in just as many as he'd seen, yet this on surprised even him.

As he walked across it, the large broad shouldered man clutched the stump that had become his left arm, gritting his teeth at the pain the recent wound caused. Though he had managed to defeat and kill his former teammate and friend, it had not come without a great cost, as the Snake Summoner had managed to get off one final attack with his Kusangi Blade, slicing the man's left arm off just under his shoulder itself. Jiraiya had since cleaned and cauterized the wound, cleaning it as best he could, but the Toad Sage already knew there was no hope of recovery from a wound like this. Orochimaru had truly given him something to remember him by in their final moments.

But with his death, Otogakure was sure to surrender, bringing about an end to all the conflict, at least for now. Konohagakure, though it hadn't lost any of its truest heavy hitting shinobi, had still lost a decent amount of their normal forces, and as such many families in the village would need time to heal, mourn, and rebuild. And that is what they would do, they'd done it before, and Kami knew that the village would rebuild again. Jiraiya shook his head slowly as he walked through the battered village of Oto that had become Naruto's battleground, absentmindedly stepping over the body of one of Orochimaru's Lieutenants, Jirōbō, if he remembered the man's name correctly from the briefing.

Moving through the remnants of the village, the Toad Sage came across a large crater, and as he walked along the edge of it he whistled slightly, noticing yet another mangled body inside of where the epicenter of the blast had been. Naruto had certainly done a number on his enemies, it seemed, so why couldn't he find the blonde, or his girlfriend, for that matter? The two had promised that they would come to reinforce him as he fought Orochimaru once they finished up with the man's bodyguards, but they had never shown up. As Jiraiya came up and over a small hill, the answer to all his questions would be revealed.

Before the large man's frame had crossed the crest of the hill, his eyes had widened fully, his legs already moving into a quick sprint as he sped towards the kneeling figure of his Godson, his pulsing chakra telling him all he needed to know, but he still prayed that his senses were wrong as he came upon them, Naruto not even bothering to look at him, his body unflinching in the late afternoon rain. Jiraiya stopped a few short feet away from him, taking in his surroundings in a combination of horror and amazement. Some very large level jutsu had been thrown around here, the residual chakra was still in the air, making it heavy and obese, almost like a smog obstructing one's breath. There was the faintest hint of demonic chakra, but not nearly enough to have even been the release of a single tail.

The Toad Sage approached the blonde slowly, doing his best to ignore the mutilated and tortured corpses were laying nearby, placing his right hand on the blonde Jounin's left shoulder, squeezing it softly and doing his best to comfort the young man just by being there for him. He knew that at a time like this, Naruto wasn't even going to listen to a single word he said, his body having muted itself to the outside as he held what had become his entire world in his arms. For as much as the white haired man had teased him about it, he knew that the blonde had truly loved the woman he held in his arms, and for all he knew, and all he had experienced, there was nothing he could do or say to fully comfort him.

Naruto simply sat in the dirt, Kaze no Karitoriki laying in the dirt, having been dropped there haphazardly by the blonde in his rush. His clothes, once pristine and new, were in tatters around his defined body, splattered with the blood of his fallen enemies, and caked in places from the mud he had been sitting in. The long blue scarf he wore around his waist, the same one he had taken from Konoharmu's lifeless body as he held the boy in his arms as he breathed his last, now had a few more tatters and tears in it, the blonde shinobi would have to get it repaired again.

In his arms, Naruto clutched the soulless form that had once been the vibrant and obnoxious Tayuya. The former Oto shinobi he had fallen head over heels for, irrevocably and irreversibly in love with. He had closed her eyes some time before, and if one were to only see the once gorgeous woman's face, it would almost appear as if she were sleeping. Unfortunately, this was an impossible task for the blonde, his eyes almost always being drawn back to the small, fist sized hole that marked her left breast, directly over where her heart had been. That had been the instrument of the redhead's destruction, really.

Her heart had let her forgive her sister for all of her transgressions against her, and in one final moment, Tayuya had wanted to be nothing more than sisters with Guren again, remembering the blissful times that the two had spent together when they were younger. It hadn't been to be though, and Guren, ever the ruthless warrior had seen her opening and struck without remorse, killing her only family and kin left that she had in the world. There had been a scream, but it was unknown if it came from Tayuya or Guren, or perhaps it had originated from both of them in the same instant, no one would ever know. And really, it didn't matter, because while Guren had killed her own sister in cold blood, the woman lie dead a short distance away. Naruto had _personally_ seen to her demise.

The blonde almost flinched when he felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder, but he only just managed to keep his bearing, not that he cared or was actively even trying anymore. All of his attention was focused on the woman in his arms as he sat there on his knees, desperately hoping that she would wake up and call him 'Shithead', just one last time, that this was some sort of elaborate joke, though he knew deep in his heart of hearts that wasn't the case. His love, his Tayuya was gone, and it was his fault. He hadn't been fast enough, hadn't been strong enough to kill his enemies quickly and return to her.

As his thoughts began to regress into those of anger, Naruto raised his head back, his normally vibrant hair falling back behind his head as he opened his mouth, his cobalt blue eyes staring into the clouds overhead, the rain striking his iris's themselves, but he no longer cared. The blonde wanted to cry, but no tears would come anymore, they'd stopped hours ago. He opened his mouth to scream, to curse the world, so question Kami himself, but no sound left his lips. The Last Uzumaki, with all his enemies dead at his feet, with victory on his lips, knelt on the ground, a broken man.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _The blonde had only just come into contact with Sakon/Udon, throwing several kunai around the man and beginning to flash to them, when he heard the scream. Flashing a safe distance away from the Oto Shinobi, Naruto turned his head over his shoulder, and in seemingly slow motion, his bangs brushing across his face, his eyes widening in horror, his blood running cold, the Last Uzumaki's body tensed, his heart feeling as though he had taken one of Kakashi's Raikiri's straight through it. At the opposite end of the barrier was a kneeling Tayuya, with her older sister Guren kneeling in front of the redhead, only mere inches away. Naruto himself screamed out her name in anguish, flashing forward as fast as he could as his love fell, slipping from the outstretched hand of her sister._

 _Everything was moving in slow motion for Naruto as he flashed to Tayuya, already creating several clones in his wake to occupy his enemies as he caught her as the redhead fell, her face filling his vision as he desperately tried to keep her from falling asleep. Naruto couldn't remember what he said as he held her in his trembling arms, or how he tried to comfort her in her final moments as he held her. He flashed them a small distance away from the ongoing battle between his clones, creating more of them to fill his absence as he fought desperately with himself to keep from shaking, urgently trying to perform first aid, and cursing himself for not knowing medical Ninjutsu._

 _Naruto was pulled from his efforts when a kunai pierced his army of Kage Bunshin, impacting deeply inside the lower left of his back, causing the blonde to scream out in pain and anguish, the scream turning into a moan as he pulled his gaze from Tayuya's wound and perceiving for the first time that she wasn't breathing, and likely hadn't been for several minutes. Noticing that her heart was no longer beating, and knowing that it would never do such again. Her eyes were unblinking, her usually vibrant brown orbs now a mere shadow of themselves, so dark and dull and empty. It was more than the blonde could take. The final realization that Tayuya was gone struck him like a train…_

 _And it had broken him._

 _Naruto wordlessly created one more clone of himself, somberly passing the body of his deceased lover into its arms before he turned around, facing his final three enemies. The blonde began walking towards them, the two figures standing side by side as they waited, watching the approaching man with apprehension. This was a completely different man than the one that they had started the fight with, and both had already known he was quite dangerous. But the Last Uzumaki seemed changed somehow as he approached him, the death of his girlfriend having affected him greatly._

 _It wasn't like it was written in books or the movies he had seen. There was no pause in the battle as he had one final heartfelt goodbye with her. She hadn't coughed through her words, yet managed to get out a final confession, there was nothing. Tayuya's death had been over before either of them knew it, and he had spent the entire time desperately trying to revive her, and all to no avail. He had no time to grieve, there were still enemies he needed to deal with, and to the blonde, both were equally guilty in the death of his beloved. He would make them pay the price in blood._

 _As he talked closer to Guren and Sakon/Ukon, the blonde's eyes flashed a murderous red briefly, his self-control only just holding back his righteous fury. His fists, clenching and unclenching, hard enough to briefly draw blood in his palms before his healing factor cleared them up. He'd make these two pay. He no longer cared about holding back out of concern for others. These Oto shinobi were dead men walking even if they didn't know it yet._

 _Naruto flashed to the kunai that had been placed around the two, his sword falling easily into his grasp as he appeared and disappeared around them, the cold, icy look never leaving his features. Guren was the first to begin sustaining damage as various cuts began appearing over her body, though they were still quite shallow due to her crystal armor. The blonde apparently was focusing his attacks on them one at a time, focusing his rage and hurt onto a single target, the object of which soon would no longer be standing. Sakon/Ukon picked up on this almost immediately, Ukon separating from his brother and hiding back in the ground, Sakon beginning to gain some distance between the two as their comrade was assaulted._

 _Before Guren had the chance to increase her defense or fight back, several versions of the blonde shinobi appeared around her, another two immediately grabbing ahold of her arms, and through a clever application of chakra, grounded themselves, and completely rooted the Kunoichi in place. The purple haired kin-slayer never stood a chance from the coming assault. The clones around her began flashing through their hand seals, each one beginning to mold their chakra as the woman began crying out in pain from the original's assault on her body._

 _Naruto appeared before her, grabbing hold of her arm before flashing behind her, bringing the offending limb with him, pulling it down in a sickening show of strength, smiling at the distinctive snapping noise it made when broken. The blonde then reappeared in front of the woman who had killed his beloved, striking out with his left foot and impacting her right kneecap, bending it inwards and reveling in the woman's scream of pain. He flashed to her side, gripping her restrained arm and delivered a crushing palm strike to the rear of her elbow, grinning as the blood from the wound splashed upon the ground. Naruto moved slowly around behind her, kicking out her remaining leg and sent the woman crashing to the ground, before he appeared directly in front of the fallen kunoichi._

 _He reached down, gripping her chin softly in his hand before he raised it up, caressing her cheek almost as he would have his precious Tayuya, before Kaze no Karitoriki flashed across her eyes, cutting both of her black orbs across the center, blinding the girl for what would be the rest of her life. Before she could scream, the blonde Jounin had crouched down in front of the woman, covering her mouth and talking in a low tone that came out as more of a growl than anything else._

" _Guren… Tayuya was able to forgive you for everything you had done to her. But me? I don't think that I can. Because_ she _asked me to, I allowed her to fight you, so she could come to terms with her past. But me? I don't think I can forgive you for this…" The blonde trailed off as he stood, flashing away to face Sakon as the five clones surrounding the fallen and blind woman called out in complete unison the name of their technique, their range so close and their opponent so broken that there was no possible way for her to escape. "_ _Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!)"_

 _By the time the flames on her body would die down, there would be nothing left but a burnt and charred husk of a body, small evidence of multiple broken bones covering her body, and little image of small cuts crisscrossing over her. The body itself would be completely unrecognizable in the state it was in. In the end, no one would mourn the death of Guren, final user of her families Crystal Release Kekkie Genkai, Lieutenant to Orochimaru. She wouldn't even get a grave, not enough left of her body for a crow to feed upon. Naruto cared little, he was already locked into combat with Sakon, though in his ruthless state it was evident he was merely toying with his enemy._

 _Sakon had given up on the fight, he knew he had lost the moment Guren was torn apart. The entire Sound Four/Five would end up being killed by this man. In hindsight, they should have known they had no chance of winning. The blonde menace had killed Kimimaro, after all, a man who had taken all four of the sound shinobi on at once and still come out on top, they never stood a chance. But Sakon had to fight, he had no choice. The barrier the brat had set up was still running, and he had no idea when or if it would fall. So there he was, currently lunging and swinging at the Konoha Ninja in a frenzied manner, for all the good it did._

 _He didn't even register the first blow that struck him, Naruto's family blade slashing through his arm like it was butter on a hot day, the volatile nature of wind chakra flashing about the blade. Sakon's arm fell dully to the side, the monster that remained of the former man looking at it briefly before crying out in pain as his black blood spurted from the wound. "Don't worry, I'll cauterize it for you." Naruto whispered, his voice somehow carrying on the breeze that generated from his incredible speed, the man himself appearing on the left side of the brown skinned man, his second level curse seal keeping him on his feet._

" _Katon: Hi no ken_ _. (Fire Release: Fist of Fire.)." The flames burst into a quick existence on Naruto's left fist, his right still clutching his blade as he forced his burning fist into Sakon's appendage, just above his elbow. The smell of burning flesh pierced his nose as he did so, and the sound of Sakon screaming in pain filled his ears, but still he refused to stop, continuing to pour chakra into the double edged jutsu. The blonde Jounin flashed behind Sakon, unsealing a Fuuma Shuriken and catching the spinning ring in his hand, launching it at the wounded man, catching him straight in the back, causing him to stumble forward as he took the impact._

 _The blonde shinobi wasted no time, allowing his opponent to suffer just enough before a new attack would pierce him, letting him recover just enough before a new blade or fist would strike him, forcing him into more pain, again and again. Sakon stood, finally after bearing so many attacks, his body battered, defiantly rising to face his enemy, before he felt a sharp sting on his left leg, catching only a small glimpse of Kaze no Karitoriki flashing before his eyes as he fell. Naruto stood in front of the man, glaring down at his final opponent, his sword held tightly in his hand, blood still dripping from its perfectly finished blade. The two stood for a moment, before the ruthless shinobi of Konohagakure raised his sword above his head in a slow and showy motion, flashing the blade down in an arc and separating the man's head from his shoulders._

 _All was quiet for a mere second as the blonde stood, absentmindedly noting that he was beginning to get quite wet from the rain. And as the decapitated head of Sakon rolled off of the roof, Ukon made his move against the Last Uzumaki, his level two cursed seal allowing his demonic looking body to easily merge with Naruto's, the disfigured man wasting do words as he began to destroy his adversary at a molecular level, decomposing his composition down to the core. Naruto, however, simply looked over to the head that had grown out of his shoulder, seemingly not the least bit surprised, as he calmly took his katana in a reverse grip, and stabbed it brutally through his stomach, twisting it as he did so._

 _Ukon cried out in pain while the blonde he was symbiotically attached to merely gave a grunt of pain. Naruto had all the Intel he needed from his dearly departed, he knew that when Ukon finally attacked him and showed himself by connecting their bodies, he was most vulnerable. No one would have expected him to attack his enemy at the expense of himself, but here he was, the blonde didn't believe he had anything to lose anymore. As Ukon disconnected himself from the blonde killer, he didn't even have time to run, Naruto had grabbed the man's skull in one hand, dropping his sword and slowly forming a Rasengan in his other. He didn't say a word as he brought the two together in the center of his body, never blinking as the bits of blood, brain, and bone splattered across his features. His feelings were shut off._

 _Naruto dropped the lifeless husk of a body that had been Ukon, kicking it away in anger before his clone dropped next to him, having stayed out of range of the entire fight. The broken blonde man looked to his right, taking the body of his beloved in his arms as the clone dispersed. He brought his hand up to her face, slowly brushing a small strand of her beautiful red hair out of her face and behind her ear, like he had so many times before. Even in death, she was the most gorgeous woman he had laid eyes upon._

 _Naruto never noticed that he had collapsed to his knees, the entire rest of the world forgotten as he desperately held onto the one person in the world he had come to love more than life itself._

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Hatake Kakashi, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, known under such monikers as 'Copy-Cat-Kakashi' and 'Kakashi of the Sharingan', rubbed his temples in frustration. It had been roughly a month sense the fall of Otogakure, bringing about the end of the insurrection of Oto/Taki/Kusa to a close, and the war to an end. The village had taken some hits during the conflict, most notably the death of the Sandaime Hokage and that of Team Ebisu, one of the triggering events of the war, but they had come out on top, and had even managed to take down one of their most longstanding adversaries, Orochimaru.

This wasn't to come without a price though, as Jiraiya had lost his arm in the conflict, and then there was Naruto… The masked Jounin sighed softly, he knew the pain of tragedy and loss quite well, and before he had been pulled from his self-induced self-hatred and loathing by the responsibilities thrust upon him as the Hokage. It had been a good thing, in hindsight, for him to take up this job. It finally got his mind off of the past, on onto the present, and the future. It was because of his newfound insight that he was worried for the son of his mentor, and the whole reason he had actually noticed.

The masked Hokage had to do something about the young man, he knew that. Naruto had personally requested to be reinstated as an ANBU, he wanted his old mask back, his division too. The boy believed that he had lost everything, no matter how much his few friends tried to tell him otherwise. That was when Jiraiya had come forth with his plan. The old Toad Sage may have been crippled, for even the legendary medic that was Tsunade could do nothing for a completely severed limb, could still offer his services as a sensei, and he wanted to take Naruto to Mt. Myōboku, to train him in the sage arts with the Toads.

Jiraiya was of the belief that the serenity of the summon's mountain and the training itself might be able to push Naruto out of the state he had been in, and while it certainly wouldn't return him to his normal state overnight, it could start him on the long road to self-redemption. As it was, the blonde was chomping at the bits to be assigned on missions, and while he made it clear he was displeased with being assigned anything other than an A or S-Ranked missions, he still went about them with his usual professional measure. In a professional sense, Naruto's mission mindset was still sound, but it was his resting mind that was the cause for worry.

Naruto wasn't sleeping, anyone could confirm that. He was _always_ training, somehow, somewhere. Even now, the blonde was out with Gai and his own protégé, Rock Lee, and was putting their stamina to the test. The blonde was running himself into the ground until he could barely stand, and when he physically couldn't train, the Last Uzumaki spent his time at the memorial stone, staring at many of the names that he himself had personally carved into it. Every shinobi or kunoichi that had died under his command, he had carved their name into the stone. Every Genin, barely out of the academy that had been sent to the front and killed, Naruto had been the one to inform their parents and family. The blonde felt it was his duty to do so, he had been their commander, and they were his responsibility.

So, Naruto trained. And then he trained some more, and then he visited the memorial stone, and then he trained again. If he wasn't training he was mourning, or he was on a mission. The man was sinking, Kakashi could tell, he had been there himself. Going on missions, killing all those who opposed him, Naruto was in the beginning stages of losing his humanity. The loss of Tayuya had crushed him beyond belief, and the young man hadn't exactly been in the best state beforehand. The praise he received for his efforts during the war hadn't helped, either. For as much as people praised him, all he could see was that he failed to protect those closest to him.

Kakashi blinked slowly, opening his visible eye before he signed off on the request Jiraiya had made. Naruto would go to Mt. Myōboku, under orders from the Hokage himself, and he was not to return until he had mastered Senjutsu and was of clear mind and body, under Jiraiya's discretion. Now, all that was left was to break the news to the blonde that he would be leaving in a week, the man stood up, vanishing from his office in the swirl of a shunshin.

He already knew where the mourning blonde would be.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _The funeral for Tayuya hadn't been very large, with less than thirty in attendance, far smaller than the large funerals of the Hokage and Konohamaru. Tayuya hadn't made a lot of friends during her stay in Konoha, but dammit if she wasn't respected. During the war she had shown her true colors and full allegiance to the Leaf, and for most that was enough. In attendance to the small ceremony was the Hokage Himself, having become somewhat found of the foul mouthed kunoichi, and there were also the full teams of Squads Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten, all of who had worked with her at some point during the war._

 _Surprisingly, Mitarashi Anko showed up as well, the two having become fast friends after an initial scuffle. There were others around as well, friends, acquaintances here and there, with Naruto himself standing center and front. There had been a few speeches, as was custom in Konoha, but Naruto himself hadn't been able to find his voice during the ordeal. When it came time to light her pyre though, the Lone Uzumaki had approached the casket alone, placing the small obsidian flute he had gotten her mere days ago in her soft, cold hands, before he took a few steps back, flashing his hands through seals through tear stained eyes, calling out his jutsu in a voice barely above a whisper._ " _Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!), exhaling a long, constant stream of white-hot fire, lighting the pyre alight, a flame which would burn fiercely despite the falling rain._

 _He didn't know how long he stood there, watching the fire burn. It was over a day though, as the funeral had started in the early morning, and he hadn't finally dragged himself away from the ashes until the following night, making his way to the funeral stone and staring at it for what felt as hours, until he could finally bring himself to stab his kunai into the stone, carving her name slowly and eloquently into it, apologizing to her from beyond the grave the whole time. With every letter crying out her name in anguish, every syllable filled with regret for not being able to save her._

 _As he stepped slightly back and choked back his tears, he apologized one final time before he finally turned and left the area. He had work to do._

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as his Hokage joined him, standing in front of the Konoha Memorial Stone, neither acknowledging the others presences, for now both content to stand in a comfortable silence. Kakashi allowed himself to slightly regress into the state he had formerly been in, mourning for the loss of all of his fallen comrades for several minutes as he stood next to the son and legacy of his Sensei. He signed softly under his mask, before he pulled his familiar orange book out from his pocket and began to speak, though the blonde next to him remained silent, his arms crossed over his chest, like a silent sentinel of the monument.

"In the shinobi world, those that break the written and unwritten rules are deemed trash... but be that as it may, those that would disregard their comrades so easily are even worse than trash. And those who don't have the decency to respect the memories of their comrades are the worst. I really am... Shinobi trash. But the one thing I still learned is this. That void is something that everyone helps you fill. Just because you face adversity and hardships, is no reason to give up on this world. A person willing to throw away all those memories... of their friends and comrades, will never find peace of mind. Resorting to something like that isn't going to bury that hole. If you persevere and endure, someone will be there to support you, always. You just have to find them."

The masked man looked down at the slightly shorter blonde, happy to see that his words were apparently registering with the boy, as he was now looking Kakashi dead in the eye, though he still wasn't talking, prompting the Hokage to continue. "I've been around longer than you have, Naruto, and I've seen my share of troubles. You're not the only one who knows what it's like to lose somebody." The man let out a quick sigh, turning the page of his book as he did so. "It looks like neither of us has led a charming life, have we? Still, it's not that bad. At least you and I have been lucky enough to find new comrades to help fill the void."

The Godaime pulled a small scroll from his back pouch, tossing it to the blonde shinobi who deftly caught it, looking at his superior questioningly, thought the man had already begun to walk away, and raising one hand over his shoulder in farewell as he left the Last Uzumaki with one last piece of sagely advice from a fellow broken man. "If comrades that you trust gather around you, hope itself can take physical form and become visible. That's what I believe..." Leaving the blonde along with his thoughts as he opened the scroll, reading it quickly before he burned it in his fingers, turning to stare back at the singular name on the memorial stone that seemed to scream at him above all the others.

"…Tayuya…"

* * *

The week had passed somewhat quickly for the Blonde Jounin, and it wasn't long before he found himself standing once again in the office of his Hokage. Beside him stood the broad frame of his Godfather, Jiraiya, the man having adapted quite well to his handicap, even sparring against his young protégé once and managing to hold his own despite his disability. Naruto hadn't said anything yet, but he was glad that the old man was doing alright, the Toad Sage was the closest thing he had to a father, and he didn't know if he would have been able to weather the death of both Tayuya and Jiraiya. As it was, he was only just holding himself together.

The blonde sighed as he listened to all of the people in the room converse about the best way to go about this training that he was supposed to undertake, and honestly it was quite irritating to say the least. To have others dictate your future is just… unsettling and belittling in its own way. That isn't to say he wasn't looking forward to getting knee deep into some hardcore training, but he would rather have done it of his own accord instead of having it decided of his own accord. He was an advocate of following orders, but everything had its extent. And with everything that had been happening recently his patience was beginning to run thin.

Naruto inhaled sharply and then exhaled the same way, calming himself and clearing his mind. It wouldn't do to lose his cool here, not now. Maybe not ever. He had come this far in life by enduring, and he would continue on, enduring everything that was thrown at him. The blonde was pulled from his musings, thinking on everything that happened over the last few months, when the Summon Toad Shima, one of the two Great Toad Sages addressed him, speaking in the odd, shrill yet croaking voice that only a toad is capable of producing.

"Are yah ready to go, Naruto-boy, Jiraiya-boy?" And then, after receiving a short nod from the two of them, she quickly flashed through the seals for the reverse summoning technique, the trio of Naruto, Jiraiya, and herself all disappearing in a short puff of smoke, leaving the Hokage's office bare except for the man sitting behind his desk, who merely gave one of his trademark eye smiles to the seemingly empty room, pulling out his all too familiar small orange book.

As the Hokage began turning the pages of it with one hand, absentmindedly reading through the novel he had read multiple times before, he sighed softly. The blonde shinobi under his charge was already quite strong, really he had proven that fact alone time and time again, constantly taking on opponents who were considerably stronger than he was. Naruto had also proven that not only could he kill his enemies, but he was quite capable in subduing them without eliminating them, as well. Hell, the young man's submission list included not only a Jinchuriki, but a full-fledged rampaging Bijuu! Then you had his kill listing of at least two S-Class threats, Shimura Danzo and Akasuna no Sasori, respectively, as well as who knows how many other Jounin and under level ninja during the war.

But for as strong as he was, the old Hatake was convinced that he wasn't strong enough to face the enemies that would soon be coming after him, and the demon sealed inside of him. The Akatsuki had been confirmed to all be high level threats, with each member being an S-Class missing Nin, powerful in their own right. Only a few members themselves had been confirmed through visual contact or the spy network that Jiraiya maintained, including Sasori, now deceased, Diedara of Iwagakure, and there was rumor that even Uchiha Itachi had joined up with the organization. Then there was the strange enigma that was the man in the orange mask, of who the leaf had nothing on.

Things were definitely going to be interesting in the coming months, that's for sure.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, bit of a shorter chapter here today, nothing too exciting on, just tying up the War Arc, and beginning the buildup for the next one. The next chapter will contain a time skip, nothing huge, only a few months or so, so don't freak out. And for those of you wondering, yes Tayuya is 100% dead. She** _ **will not**_ **be coming back to life through Pain or anything like that. There will be another woman in Naruto's life, but considering that I'm just flying by the seat of my pants on creating this fic, I haven't completely decided on who it'll be yet. Guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	17. Red Dawn Rising

**Hey guys, welcome back to the 17** **th** **installment of 'Immortalized'! Not much to say, other than I love the feedback and such I've been getting from you all. Also, the story has passed over 100K in words as of the last chapter! Pretty big milestone for me, never wrote anything this long before. Anyways…**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Red Dawn Rising**

* * *

Six months.

It had been six months to the day since the shinobi had set foot in his home village. Six long months. That was twenty six weeks. Or one hundred eighty three days. It was four thousand three hundred and eighty hours. Two hundred and sixty two thousand, eight hundred minutes. An uncountable number of seconds. However you looked at it, it was a seriously long amount of time. And that entire time, the nearly twenty year old had spent in the company of nothing but Toads, and the presence of one singular other man. So you could say that yes, he was definitely ready for a change of scenery, and a difference in company, whichever came first.

The two men had been walking for what appeared to be a good few hours, opting to take the scenic route into Konohagakure instead of simply summoning themselves into it. This was, in actuality, quite familiar to the first time that they had approached the village, nearly ten years prior. The man on the left was tall and well-built, being in his late adulthood. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he currently had tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face as he got older. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. The large man also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. Upon closer inspection, he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "Oil", which easily showed his affiliation with Mount Myōboku, and by proxy the Toads.

To the now revealed Jiraiya's right stood a young man, an ornate katana slung across his back, dressed in simple back loose fitting pants with a kunai pouch on his right thigh, that were taped up around his ankles, his feet clad in a pair of unassuming combat sandals. He wore a tight, form fitting sleeveless green shirt that had a crest displayed proudly on the back, a dark red swirl. On each hand, there was a pair of dark gray fingerless gloves, and there were many scars upon his arms. His eyes were a steely blue, while his hair was a dull yellow, his long locks tied into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck, his bangs framing his angular face, his baby fat having left him long ago.

There were two standard black Hitai-Ite tied tightly around his waist, the leaf insignia falling slightly over the long, tattered blue scarf that served as a sash, fluttering in the wind, as the second metal plate felon the other side of his hip, the kanji for oil on proud display. Around his shoulders the man wore a gray overcoat, closer to a full length duster, the fabric stopping at just above his ankles. Around each bicep was a black tattoo that looked as if it was some sort of tribal kanji, though it was impossible to make out. Under one eye, he had the same red line marking his face, similar to his Sensei and Godfather. All in all, Uzumaki Naruto hadn't changed much physically, though he was growing into quite the young man that his parents would be proud of.

A myriad of feelings rushed through Naruto as he walked through those gates, absentmindedly signing the appropriate papers and making small talk with the two eternal gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu. The blonde Jounin was glad to be back in his village after such an extended stay away, no matter how productive or fruitful it had been. It really was true, the old saying. How did it go again, something along the lines of 'absence makes the heart grow stronger'? Yeah, something like that. It hadn't been long after he'd left the familiarity of the village that he had begun to miss even the smallest things about it. The day to day life, little amenities, one doesn't truly appreciate what they have until it's gone.

The blonde sighed as he walked through the village, thinking back on a lot of things that had transpired in the last half year, as Jiraiya looked down to his young protégé, giving him an almost evaluating glance as he watched him walk. The blonde shinobi appeared relaxed, but to the trained eye of the Toad Sage, every muscle in his body was tense, almost as if he was on edge. The large white haired man sighed slightly to himself as he walked, his single arm moving with his gait as he did so. He couldn't blame the kid for being nervous, even after all this time. Though this was just the beginning. He still had a few places that would no doubt be difficult to go to due to the memories they would stir.

In all truth, the blonde shinobi had gotten better, he'd recovered a good amount from the death of his previous girlfriend, Tayuya, but he still had a long ways to go on truly forgiving himself for the event. Any other shinobi could, and had, told Naruto to his face that it wasn't his fault that she had been killed, that there was nothing he could have done, but the Jounin denied them tooth and nail, always coming up with something. He could have been stronger, faster, killed his opponents off quicker to return and aid her, there was always something that he felt he could have done to save her. While this went several times more of his late lover, it also occurred for every single ninja he had ever had under his command.

The Toad Sage was pulled out of his thoughts by the blonde addressing him briefly, his tone clipped and nonchalant as he spoke. "Ero-Sennin, you can take care of the briefing, right? There's someone I need to see." Before the large one-armed man could answer, Naruto was gone, vanishing in his now signature flash of blue that the Sage had become so used to over the last several months. He turned to look at his protégé, but the young man was already gone, and there was nothing he could really do to stop the kid, even had he truly wanted to.

Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head from slightly as he walked on towards the Hokage tower, grumbling about 'ungrateful brats that didn't even care if they'd abandoned their old, crippled mentors.' Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, just inside one of smaller, more serene areas of the village, there was a brief flash of blue, followed by the sudden appearance of the blonde Jounin that had become renowned throughout his village. The man said nothing as he walked briefly, turning one last corner before he came to his final destination, the large, black polished slate that was the Konohagakure Memorial Stone. Naruto walked up to it, and slowly, almost nervously, he raised his right hand from inside his coat, letting his palm rest against the store as he bowed his head, speaking so softly it could barely be heard over the wind.

"Hey, Tayuya..."

* * *

"So, all of his physical growth and strength aside, what it his mental state?" The masked Hatake Kakashi asked from behind his ever-present orange book, his eye lazily going through the words written on the page as he flipped them idly. The silver haired Kage was honestly interested greatly in the state of the Last Uzumaki, him being one of the villages strongest, if not _the_ strongest Jounin, and with the operations that they were soon to be launching, he was going to need all of his heavy hitters at full capacity, _especially_ Naruto. Jiraiya stroked his chin with his only remaining hand in thought, looking down slightly as he did so.

"Well, he's definitely not at one-hundred-percent." At the groan from the Godaime he continued, raising his hand in a placating manner, calming the masked Kage as he continued. "He's still got baggage. A lot of it at that, but he is absolutely strong and confident enough to begin taking on missions. His mental state is… fickle. He shows his emotions and lives like a normal person, but you confront him about it and he might shut down. And in combat…in combat he is brutal. No mercy." Jiraiya finished, looking back up at the Godaime and making eye contact.

"He still refuses to open up about certain things, but in terms of sheer combat prowess I'd have to say that he would be a match for me if I had both my arms." The Sannin finished, motioning to his stump before looking back to his Hokage. Kakashi blinked, turning one of the pages of his Icha-Icha, before he looked from the book back up to the living legend in his office and taking in a small breath. The man didn't show it too much, but the job of Hokage was a quite taxing one. And then if you added in the stress of leading a village through a time of war, everything doubled.

It also, for what it was worth, wasn't easy to follow up against such people as the Sandaime and Yondaime, both legends in their own right. Both men before him had been hero's, with the late Sarutobi leading the village through two wars, and then retaking up the mantle after the death of the Yondaime, who had fallen during the Kyuubi attack nearly two decades ago. Both men had been revered greatly, and while he himself was no slouch when it came to his duties as the leader of Konoha, it was akin to following the greatest act at a magic show with only a singular card trick. He was doing his best, but even then he was only a single man.

Pulling his mind from his thoughts, the silver haired Hokage closed his put, placing it down on his desk, before looking at the world renowned author, an idea already forming in his mind to test the blonde, and it had the double incentive of allowing him to get out from behind his desk and the somewhat stuffy office. He rationalized it in his head too, it was a fantastic way to let the people of the village know that one of their strongest shinobi and the hero of the most recent war was back in the village, now supposedly stronger than before, if Jiraiya were to be believed.

Turning and looking to a seemingly empty corner of the room, the Godaime Hokage spoke briefly, informing the ANBU guard who had been stationed there of what he wanted to happen. "Send for Jounin Uzumaki, have him report to training ground thirty-four in roughly thirty minutes." There was a muffled 'Hokage-Sama', and then a brief swirl of leaves as the man in the corner disappeared, the Hokage himself standing and heading for the door, the Toad Sage falling into step on his right. Yes, this was certainly a good idea, the masked Hokage justified to himself, he would need to know the blonde shinobi's skills absolutely to send him out in confidence. He couldn't quite place it, but something told him a storm was coming.

Besides, it'd been awhile since he had had a good spar, the Hokage couldn't allow himself to get rusty, even in a time of peace.

* * *

Naruto had lost track of how long he had been standing in front of the large, polished black rock, staring at the myriad of names that he himself had carved into it, some of them jumping out to him more than others, seemingly speaking to him from beyond the abyss of death. The blonde had started himself down the long road of recovery many months ago, with a little kick from Jiraiya here and there, and though he had definitely made progress with forgiving himself for his actions or non-actions, he still had a significant way to go before he was ready to move on completely and leave his past behind him.

It was ironic, really. The man who had preached forgiveness was unable to pardon himself for his own actions. Every death he had taken on his own shoulders, and while he _knew_ that many of them weren't his fault, he couldn't help but feel the way he did about them. It was because of this that he had become afflicted with the dubbed 'Hero's Complex', or the desire to take anyone else's troubles upon himself to cause the other party less pain or suffering. It had been because of this mental state that he had undertaken so many missions during the most recent conflict that Konoha had been involved in, for he had seen no reason to back down and give less, when there were still people, men and women he knew, out on the front lines.

He was shaken from his musings at the small gust of wind that appeared seemingly out of nowhere to his left, the light fluttering of leaves immediately denoting of a shunshin. The blonde didn't even bother to turn his head at the new arrival to the memorial stone, an ANBU designated as Rooster if he was interpreting the mask properly, the agent of the Hokage speaking in the clipped, monotone voice that befitted all operatives. "The Hokage has requested your presence at training ground thirty-four. Acknowledge." Naruto sighed, crossing his arms under his cloak, clenching his hands tightly for a brief moment before he relaxed the tension that had built up, nodding briefly and waiting for Rooster to vanish once again in a shunshin, before he himself disappeared in a brief flash of cobalt.

It only took him two or three flashes to find the training ground he had been summoned to, wondering briefly what it was about as he traversed the village. By the time he arrived though, any thoughts on what his purpose for this meeting was confirmed, as by the time he had arrived, the Hokage and several other people were already standing about, conversing amongst each other as they waited for his arrival, apparently. Now it became clear to him, for though he may not have been the quickest thinker, that wasn't to say he was stupid by any means. Jiraiya had obviously finished his meeting with the village's leader, and now he was here to confirm the skills that his Godfather had no doubt bragged about. But who was his opponent to be?

The blonde highly doubted that he would be facing the one armed Toad Sage, thought the older man was still quite strong in his own right, Naruto could now easily outmaneuver the handicapped man. It wouldn't be Tsunade, either, as she had been out of practice with her combat skills for years, and though once again she was still quite strong, she was likely only here to provided medical assistance if needed, as was her own protégé and student, Shizune. There were a few other Jounin milling about, as well their respective teams, and even a few civilians had apparently gotten word of the match that was to take place.

Let's see… there was Kurenai and Asuma in the crowd, but he highly doubted that they were to be his opponents, as even before he had left to go to Mt. Myōboku he had been more than a match for the two powerful ninja. There was also Gai, standing at the front of the crowd with his miniature clone of himself, Lee. Now, that was a fight that he would definitely be a little harder pressed to win, considering the two men's specialties. Gai was an expert at closing fast with his enemies and then destroying them with a flurry of Taijutsu, and while Naruto definitely wasn't a slouch in that particular ninja art, without his Hiraishin his own great speed was still nothing compared to the bowl cut Green Beast's.

The final Uzumaki was a heavy specialist of Ninjutsu, knowing quite a few and paired with his Kage Bunshin he could devise and create any number of lethal combination attacks that were capable of far more damage than any singular jutsu on their own. Now, while he was also quite deadly with his own Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, he still would be loath to fight someone like Gai, especially since the man was fast enough to dodge around his Ninjutsu, forcing Naruto to take him on his own terms, and this wasn't even taking into account that the man could easily open the eight inner gates, while the blonde had only ever been able to achieve the first three, and would probably never get any farther in that aspect.

But still the blonde didn't believe that he was called here to fight Gai, who was by far the worst opponent for him, aside from the Hokage himself… and then it clicked. That is the only other person who could attempt to fight him and win in a straight up one-on-one fight that he could currently see. That's not to say there weren't others in Konoha who were quite as strong, but he simply couldn't see them at the moment. For example, he had heard through the grapevine that the former Team Seven had all recently become Jounin on their own, and that their teamwork was extraordinary, when the three fought together there weren't many enemies they couldn't prevail against.

So that settled it then, if he were fighting a team of enemies, the blonde had no honest guess of who he figured to be facing in this small exhibition match, but if it were a single fighter, his money was on the Hokage himself. Naruto knew Kakashi, though the man was doing a good job of filling the seat as a Hokage, he would have been itching to get into a good spar, having been sitting behind the desk for so long now, especially after taking a purely administrative role in the recent war Konoha had been involved in. All of these thoughts ran through the mind of the blonde Jounin as he landed down to the right of his leader, a team of his Kage Bunshin already going out to create a barrier for the area in an attempt to negate property or collateral damage to the area.

"Hokage-Sama." Naruto's tone was short and clipped, he said nothing more than needed to be said, and it was hard for the masked Hokage to read his features upon the blonde's stoic face. However, it had been said that the best way to learn everything that you would ever need to know about someone was by crossing fists with them, something they would be doing shortly. Kakashi flipped one of the pages on his ever present small orange book, giggling softly to himself before he addressed his recently returned Jounin.

"Yo. I take it you figured out why you're here then?" He motioned to the four clones of the blonde that had scattered to the four corners of the rather large training area, each one writing out a sealing matrix on the ground as they did so. The silver haired scarecrow, still reading, began walking towards the rough center of the immediate area, well inside the barrier the clones were creating as he spoke again, the Jounin walking alongside him at his right. "It seems we've gathered quite a crowd. Wonder what the betting pool is like." The shinobi next to him simply let out a small chuckle as the two separated before turning to face each other, the Hokage noticing that the man seemed to be a bit softer spoken and reserved that he had been before the end of the war.

Naruto inclined his head slightly to the right, and after receiving an approving nod from his leader, sent out a small pulse of chakra to his clones, giving them the go ahead, watching with mild interest as a large, transparent dome grew from the ground up, encompassing much of the training field and cutting the two soon to be fighters off from the rest of the village. "Kekkai Fuinjutsu: Tōmei Dōmu Gijutsu! (Barrier Sealing Method: Transparent Dome Technique!)" The clones themselves dispersed as they finished the purpose they had been created for, and Naruto watched idly as the Last Hatake snapped his familiar Icha-Icha novel closed, returning it safely to a pouch on his back left hip for safekeeping.

Sparring between comrades in a ninja village was a quite common event. It allowed for the shinobi and kunoichi to practice their various techniques, tactics, and strategies in a more or less non-hostile environment that allowed for them to hone their skills with minor consequence. It had even become a sport, in a sense, and it was often that you'd find ninja of various rank watching and critiquing the battles of those placed over them, picking up on details and such that the combatants themselves might have missed during their brief conflict.

However, while sparring itself was common, a match between the higher echelons of the village was not. Many times, as a Ninja grew in status and stature, the techniques they gained became unworthy of a friendly spar, as they would kill or at the very least maim and seriously injure their opponent. As such, the current match that was about to take place between the Hero of the War, the Bunker Buster and Army Slayer himself, a man known to possess a myriad of jutsu that were quite destructive, pitted against the leader and defender of the Hokage himself, was going to be quite the spectacle, thus the defensive measures that the Blonde Jounin had taken were not out of place at all, considering the possible consequences.

"Well, before we start, I think I'm going to go ahead and pull out all the stumps, if that's alright with you?" Kakashi didn't bother waiting for a response as he reached his left hand up to the Leaf Hitai-Ite he proudly wore on his head, pulling it up and revealing his spinning Sharingan Eye to the blonde, the younger boy's eyes immediately leaving Kakashi's own, and focusing on his torso and limbs. Naruto had trained, and though he was better at detecting and dispelling Genjutsu than he used to be, it was still his weakest aspect of the Ninja Arts. He did feel that small rush, that brief flash of excitement that he got every time he fought a battle, something he hadn't gotten from the handicapped Jiraiya in quite some time. This was defiantly going to be interesting, and it didn't appear as if Kakashi was going to be holding back, either.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the chest of his Hokage, already channeling his chakra for his opening moves, his tactical mind already attempting to think several moves ahead into the combat that was about to kick off. Kakashi was a generalized shinobi, being very adept into all of the ninja arts, with a minor specialty into Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. He was taller and heavier than the blonde, and that would give him the advantage against him in a hand to hand fight, but if he were careful he might be able to turn that advantage against the older man.

The Last Uzumaki on the other hand, was a Ninjutsu powerhouse. He had the elemental techniques of various elements and the chakra composition to throw them around at will, and while his Taijutsu was good, he would prefer to keep his Hokage at a distance, pin him with clones and various traps, before he rained jutsu after jutsu down on him. The blonde had already forgone sealing in this fight, he didn't want to accidentally kill the leader of his village if the matrix were to fluctuate, or something happen in some unforeseen circumstance.

Naruto took a deep breath, before the Hokage rushed forward, taking the first steps of the battle as everything began to become a blur of motion. The blonde shinobi quickly began backtracking as the older man approached him, easily dodging the various kunai and shuriken that were sent his way as his hands began flashing through hand seals, before he skidded to a short stop, slamming his hands into the ground and calling the name of his jutsu as he immediately leapt into the air, his hands already blurring into the seals for another one as Kakashi also leapt into the sky, the two on a collision course, before Naruto released his second techniques, blasting his Hokage away from him. "Doton: Ganchūsō! (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears!) Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)".

Both men had jumped high into the air as the ground erupted into the spikes called forth by Naruto, and the two men were mere feet from colliding into the Taijutsu match that Kakashi was trying to begin before the blonde's second technique was finished, blasting his Hokage away from him, the man coming to rest on a tree nearby, the chakra running through his feet holding him solidly against it as he flashed through seals of his own, feeling the chakra mold within his body, opening the appropriate tenketsu before flooding the power into his throat and expelling it rapidly.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!)". Naruto frowned briefly, before throwing one of his now signature three-pronged kunai across the clearing towards Kakashi, flashing to it, but not before the silver haired man had de-directed it with a well-placed shuriken of his own, the blonde appearing out of place as he rapidly unsheathed his katana, kicking off of the tree he had been sent towards, flashing through seals once again as he hurtled towards his leader, opening his own mouth as the volatile chakra burst forth. "Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)

The Hatake had already moved from the area though, the spear of lighting missing him by inches as he had vanished in a body flicker evident of his skill, appearing directly to the left of the Jounin, a kunai in either hand, slashing down upon the man's arm, his eye widening slightly as it vanished in a puff of smoke. The Hokage reacted instantly, spinning on his left foot to face behind him, catching the famed Kaze no Karitoriki in a two handed block, his kunai scraping against the blade as the 'Naruto' he was facing grinned slightly, muttering one world only. "Boom."

The Hokage reappeared a second after the explosion, looking no worse for wear as he had narrowly escaped the blast of the overloaded bunshin with a quick kawarimi, flashing through seals as quickly as he could, slamming his own palms into the dirt as the blonde that had seamlessly vanished before began flashing around the clearing in the web of Hiraishin Kunai he had thrown into the ground while Kakashi had been dealing with his clone, however briefly. Naruto soon found his father's technique nullified though, as the sole survivor of the Hatake Clan called out his technique, immediately following it with a second one. "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō! (Earth Release: Seismic Upheaval!)" "Doton: Doryū Taiga! (Earth Release: Earth Flow River!)".

Before the Uzumaki Heir was able to fully utilize his technique, it had been effectively neutralized by the former student of his father, the man using his chakra to disrupt the ground and offset the position of all the blonde's kunai before his next jutsu transformed the ground into liquid, the heavy pieces of metal sinking to the bottom of the impromptu mud field before he cancelled the technique, the ground returning to normal at the loss of chakra, the kunai buried beneath the ground now rendered obsolete. But during that time, Naruto had already begun to plan around the older man's defense of the technique, and had reappeared above the man, his hands held in a final seal as two other clones of himself appeared around the former Jounin, catching him in a trifecta.

"Fūton: Kami Oroshi! (Wind Style: Divine Fist of the Wind God!)" "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!) "Doton: Dosekiryū! (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Jutsu!)". The three techniques sped forward from the three blondes, two of them popping out of existence as they completed the technique, the large explosion resulting from the combined force littering the area with debris, the target seemingly destroyed in the blast. Naruto knew better though, and while it was a powerful and destructive jutsu, Kakashi was no pushover, and it was only a second later before the man burst from the ground under him, narrowly missing the blonde as they began a rapid series of attacks and blocks, the older man utilizing a kunai and keeping close distance to negate the advantage of the blonde's sword.

The two men were a blur as they danced and moved around each-other, the younger blonde taking far more hits from his enemy that vice-versa, before he made a gamble, and played off a move that no swordsmen would ever let themselves do. Taking a brief step back and spinning, Naruto swung his katana through the air, its blade slicing through the sky before it came to a stop, blocked by Kakashi's knife. As soon as the two came into contact though, the Uzumaki released his grip on the sword, instantly forming a Rasengan in his hand as the momentum carried it towards the Hokage, his chest the target as he moved forward, the blade falling to the ground.

The Hatake heir's eyes narrowed for a brief second as he hollowed out his body, forcing one of his hands down upon the blonde's wrist, driving the destructive jutsu of his father into the ground. He didn't know that the unpredictable ninja in his grasp bad predicted this, rotating his back and body forward, his rear leg coming around and kicking the former Jounin in the top of the head in a bastardized reverse-bicycle kick. The force was enough to disconnect the two, Naruto disappearing in a rapid shunshin, his sword vanishing from the ground as he grabbed it, replacing it in his sheathe before rushing himself through seals once more as the scarecrow did the same, both men sprinting towards each other and yelling the names of their respective techniques.

"Raiton: Seidenki Rakurai Taihou! (Lightning Release: Static Bolt Gun!)" "Raiton: Seidenki Rakurai Taihou! (Lightning Release: Static Bolt Gun!)" The blondes eyes widened, his face contorting into a grimace as both men called the same technique, the realization striking him that Kakashi was copying him as they both leapt back and thrust their arms out, their first and middle fingers extended and joined as the arc of electricity left both of them, colliding in the center with a violent flash. Naruto still wasn't finished though, as he appeared on the Hokage's left side, using the small Hiraishin tag he had infused into the man's clothing with his chakra, a Rasengan spinning to life in his hand as he spun and forced it through the man's chest.

Watching his technique slam through the Hokage, the blonde cursed lightly under his breath as he realized he had been caught under one of the older man's Genjutsu, dispelling the mid-level disorienting technique, but still taking the kick that connected straight to his back. Landing lightly on his feet after a quick roll, Subordinate and Superior faced each other down for a brief moment, the Hokage's Sharingan blazing fiercely as they locked into the stand down, neither man moving for several seconds. Before it could go on any longer, the masked scarecrow formed a quick few hand seals, dropping his hand below his waist and grabbing his wrist, as his opponent leveled his hand out in front of him, the telltale signs of chakra forming in his hand.

Once again, both men shot off, their techniques fully formed in their hands outstretched behind them, chakra enhancing their steps, gripping their footfalls and kicking up dirt as they moved. The two were a blur as they shot across the clearing, Naruto's eyes narrowed, his face set in a grim smile, his hair pushed back by the sheer speed he was moving. Kakashi's Sharingan spinning like the wheel that was its namesake, his own silver hair flowing behind him as he ran. Both men called out the names of their personal techniques in near perfect unison, both leaning forward and extending their arms as they did so.

"Rasengan!" "Raikiri!" The two men charged at each other, screaming the names of their techniques, but before the two could collide Naruto flashed to the man's back once more, driving the deadly move through his spine, grinning in victory, before 'Kakashi' exploded in his face, electrocuting him excessively, revealing himself to be nothing more than a Rai-Bunshin. However, 'Naruto' also vanished in a puff of smoke- the last attack had been nothing more than a clone on clone assault. Once the smoke settled, the battlefield was silent, with not a move to be seen, or a sound to be heard. Had it not been for the barrier that prevented anything from escaping, it could even have been argued that the two men left.

The illusion was destroyed, though when both men appeared out of the woodwork nearby, Kakashi walking calmly out of the trees as Naruto burst from the top of them, his hands already flashing through seals once more, the chakra within his body building. Before he could finish his jutsu though, he noticed that his Hokage had covered his exposed Sharingan eye, his Hitai-Ite falling down to conceal it. The silver haired man gave a short wave to the blonde, to which he responded with a short nod, allowing his chakra to falter, the power within him returning to its normal levels as he dropped down to the other man, moving once again to walk at his right side as they moved.

Both men simply walked in a comfortable silence back to the awaiting crowd that they had gathered. While the area was sealed off, this was still not the place nor the time to begin unleashing their more deadly techniques and lethal Raikiri variants, and besides, the Godaime had seen plenty during their little friendly spar, and was now somewhat more able to gauge his Jounin's abilities. The older of the two men glanced over to his subordinate as they walked, absentmindedly pulling out his familiar orange book as he began to speak, flipping the pages idly.

"You held back." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, if the scarecrow's tone was anything to go off of. Naruto simply shrugged as he began to run through yet another sequence of seals, this time to release the barrier between themselves and the rest of the village, before he looked to his Hokage, speaking in his low, yet no less authoritative tone that was becoming quite the characteristic for him after his time in ANBU and on the frontlines during the recent conflict that had ended just shy of a year prior.

"I did, Hokage-Sama. It wouldn't be good for the village to lose another one of its Kage so soon after the passing of the Sandaime, and especially not in a spar." The barrier fell, and the two men watched in mild amusement as there was a significant amount of money being passed among the spectators. Though there had been no clean cut winner as the match had been called before too much damage to the area, there was still the betting pools for the various jutsu and techniques used. Kakashi narrowed his eye at the younger man briefly, before it was replaced by his signature eye smile as they made their way through the crowd.

"No, Naruto. I suppose it wouldn't."

* * *

Haruno Sakura, Chunin of Konohagakure and apprentice to the legendary medic, Senju Tsunade and one of two vice-chairmen of the main Konoha Hospital (the other being Shizune) walked happily down the street with the two men that had been the largest part of her life for the last several years. Making up the by now well-known and respected 'Team Seven", was the pale skinned and lightly clad Ink-Ninjutsu using man known as Sai, also a Chunin, but the third member was the most known to the general populace. That man being the one and only Uchiha Sasuke, Jounin in rank, having been recently promoted only a few short months prior. He was dressed in the typical clothing of his formerly large clan, complete with the dark colors of his high collared shirt, the Uchiha Fan Crest emblazoned proudly on the back for the world to see.

His teammates, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you asked, hadn't really changed their clothing too much, with the former ROOT member still dressing in attire similar to his old ANBU issued gear and the medic of the team still opting for brighter colors, though it was noted that she had switched from wearing bright pink and red to a deep maroon, only a few shades off from the color of blood itself. In hindsight, it kind of helped for the medic to dress in such a color, as the blood from whomever she was working on was less noticeable, and it seemed to please her.

It had been awhile since the team had worked solidly together, and as they all walked there was the universal feeling of comfort that comes with familiarity in ones surroundings. The three of them had been through a great deal together, and only recently had they truly realized that with the differences in rank they would now be getting split apart more and more. Sakura had her responsibilities at the Hospital, Sasuke was a Jounin and therefor expected to take harder missions, and Sai was in the process of doing… well suffice to say Sai didn't do much, though it was somewhat well known that he would assist on higher ranked missions from time to time due to his skillset.

As the three walked along the road, making their way slowly but surely to the Hokage Tower, it occurred to Sakura that though she was happy her friends were getting stronger and moving up in the ranks of the ninja force, it would always be painful to watch them go and leave her behind. That isn't to say that she was weak, she had been training under the very watchful and intense gaze of one of the Sannin, after all. With these thoughts in mind, she idly wondered what the old team had been called for. She'd already asked the two men of the group what they thought was going on, but neither had any useful knowledge, just that the Hokage had requested the three of them specifically and by name.

Maybe it had something to do with their old classmate, Naruto? The three had known he was back in the village, and had been for a week or two, in fact Sasuke had actually been looking for the blonde shinobi, eager to prove his worth in a spar against his fellow Jounin. Though he wouldn't admit it, the Prodigal Uchiha actually owed a lot to the man, he had been one of the few people to make a solid attempt at helping the stoic man, and his words of advice had helped pull the black haired Uchiha from a dark place. Don't get him wrong, Sasuke still absolutely wanted revenge against his brother, but now he wasn't willing to sacrifice his comrades and friends to accomplish such a task. His teammates had become his new family, since his old one had passed on.

Sai was more of a complex case. The poor man was still working on harnessing and properly expressing his emotions, it wasn't something one could pick up overnight after years of physical and mental conditioning in the opposite. The man, to his credit, was trying, but it was still going to be a long process that would take many months, even years to complete. The short dark haired man had easily the least objectified view of his blonde compatriot, and though he respected the man for the tales of his exploits and for the way that he led those under his command, he had yet to form any sort of lasting personal bond with him, though he wouldn't say he was loath to try.

Whatever misgivings or otherwise that the trio of Ninja had, there was one thing they were all certain of as they walked through the doors of the Tower, making their way up to the office of their supreme military commander, and that was that they could trust in each other, and in the abilities that they possessed. The three entered the room, it was idly noted by all three of them that as of now, they were the only ones in it, aside from their leader of course. It was highly doubtful that the silver haired former Jounin would be sending out a three-man cell, breaking from traditional Konoha standards of four-man squads, so all that was left was for the fourth member of their squad to arrive.

As it was, the two Chunin, Jounin, and Hokage would end up making idle small talk for several minutes, before there was a small flash of blue in the far corner of the room, signifying the appearance of one sword-bearing man, now almost thirty minutes late, still no record to the Hokage himself, of course, but just long enough to be irritable to the other members of the room. Naruto walked up to the desk, scratching the back of his head a little bit sheepishly as he did so, his head slightly bowed as he approached. "My apologies, Hokage-Sama. I was on my way over here, and wouldn't you believe it, there was this little old lady who needed help carrying her groceries, so I stopped to help."

At this, there was a number of reactions in the room, and Naruto, not having worked with Kakashi often enough and not knowing of the man's mannerisms, was confused by all of them. Sakura seemed to get quite irritated by the revelation, her eyes narrowing as she absentmindedly cracked the knuckles of one hand, while Sai seemed somewhat indifferent, if not a little bit bemused from the display. Sasuke himself did his best to be aloof as usual, though on the inside he thought it was stupid to lie over such an occasion, while the Godaime himself seemed pretty pleased with the whole excuse, giving the man a quick thumbs up as his eye almost seemed to sparkle, before he pulled himself under control and closed his Icha-Icha, signifying the end of the pleasantries.

"Alright, since I'm sure you're all wondering why I brought you together today I won't mince words. With the threat of a certain organization on the rise, and with their motives still almost completely unknown, we've started an outreach program." The Godaime paused, looking in between all four of his ninja, and after gaining a small nod of acknowledgment from each of them, continued. "The four of you will be making a trip to Sunagakure, where you will attend a political meeting with the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa. Jounin Uzumaki, you know the parameters of the discussion, and I'll leave it in your hands as to whether or not you seek contact with Suna's own 'specialty case'. If at all possible, you are to secure them as allies in this endeavor. Are there any questions?" Upon seeing none, the Hokage blinked, before finishing his orders. "You are to leave immediately."

He hadn't even turned all the way around in his chair, or retrieved his book before the four Ninja had exited his office.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that's all I got for this one. Sorry it took a little bit longer for this update, works been picking up and I don't have as much time to write as I'd like. Anyways, you guys know what to do. I love the feedback so if you have a second leave a review, and tell me how to improve or any mistakes you caught.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	18. Political Negotiations

**Welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! As always, loving the feedback you guys are giving me, that shit is great. Just as a little heads up, my update speed will be slowing slightly, so I won't be doing the whole one-chapter-per-day thing that I've been keeping to. It'll now more be like 2 or 3 days between updates, so just a bit slower. Anyways, hope you all enjoy the 18** **th** **Installment!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **Political Negotiations**

* * *

The modified Team Seven, or Team Naruto as it was currently being led by none other than the blonde shinobi, moved through the desert at a leisurely, yet urgent speed. The four shinobi weren't moving at a breakneck pace, but at the same time they weren't taking their time either. This mission didn't really have a deadline, so to speak, but the sooner that they finished with it, the sooner they could continue on with the 'Outreach' Program that the Godaime was attempting to start, by moving on to the other hidden villages that they would need to make contact with.

The 'Outreach' Program was actually quite simple, when one were to think about it. It was often said that the 'Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend', and in this case, all of the major villages would be antagonists against the organization known as 'Akatsuki'. As of now, it was unknown what the groups true goal was, or what they were attempting to capture all of the great tailed beasts for, but whatever they were gathering the pseudo-nukes for, it obviously wasn't good. The Godaime was banking on the other Kage's caring about their ninja, and in turn their Jinchuriki, when he came up with the idea.

His whole plot was to pull the great five Ninja villages into an alliance, however temporary, to deal with the Akatsuki, and as several Jinchuriki were reported to have already been captured by the red-cloaked missing nin, he was more than willing to bet on it. The reason that Konoha was starting with Suna, instead of one of the other villages that were supposed to have more, or more powerful, Jinchuriki, was because of the alliance that the Sand and Leaf already held together, from the hands of the Sandaime Hokage and the Yondaime Kazekage themselves. It was more out of courtesy than anything else, and even if the Kazekage refused the offer, at the very least he would be made aware of the threat to his village and his son, if he didn't already know.

It had only taken the team of three men and one woman two days to reach River Country, and only a single day for them to pass South-West through it on their way to Wind Country, hitting the border to the large desert area on the morning of the fourth day. From there, it was only another day and a half journey to the walled village of Sunagakure, which as they ran they were now very clearly able to make out. It wouldn't be long before the modified Team Seven had reached the walls, though due to the lateness of the day they wouldn't likely have their meeting with the Kazekage until the following morning.

While that was mildly annoying, it would be nice to have a short afternoon off in a foreign village, which due to the allied nature of their own, they would be allowed to explore a small amount, instead of being confined to a small area like they would likely have been had they gone somewhere else, like the heavily militarized Kumogakure, for example. All in all, this was supposed to be a relatively easy political envoy that in all actuality could have been completed by the last Uzumaki alone, but the other members of his team also served several purposes. While Naruto himself would be working directly with the Kazekage and his advisors, Sakura was to head to the hospital of the village, and meet with the head Nurse there, where the two would swap various medical research and such, all in the effort of a betterment in lifestyle and standard of living for both villages. Sasuke and Sai were to be the medic's escorts for the duration of the mission.

Truth be told, Naruto didn't mind working with the three, and he had been contemplating telling them about his tenant for some time now. Of his Academy graduating class, only Shino and Kiba knew of his tenant, and that was because the two had figured it out of their own volition through various means. The young Aburame had been able to discern between the two types of chakra that flowed in his body through his Kikaichu, and Kiba, through his extremely heightened senses from years of running in a pack had been able to do much the same. Neither boy had thought anything less of their friend, and while Shino had just said it 'was illogical to discriminate over something one had no control over', the Inuzuka heir had made the boy something of an Honorary member of his pack, in his eyes, due to his affinity with animals.

All in all, the Last Uzumaki knew he could probably trust his teammates with the knowledge of his tenant, he had trusted them with his back during the war, and they had followed him into combat under little to no information, so there was little lost between the four friends. The blonde was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a small pulse in chakra to his left and right, stopping in his tracks, his movements immediately followed by those of his team. Holding up a his single right hand in a closed fist, he gave the un-worded signal for his team to hat and not engage, as two Chunin from the village they were approaching landed to either side of them, approaching quickly, yet cautiously.

Blinking slowly as the two went through their various paperwork, it stuck the blonde almost laughably that the two gate guards of Suna bore an almost striking resemblance to the eternal gate guards of Konoha, Izumo and Kotetsu. He didn't have long to lament on his thoughts though, as before too long their papers and rites had been stamped, and they were allowed through the great walls of the city concealed in the sands of the desert. The blonde had been correct, as it was now becoming later in the evening their meeting with the Wind Shadow would be taking place the following morning, leaving the four with the evening to do as they pleased.

Team Naruto would be remaining in Sunagakure for several days, so it wasn't as if they were in a rush.

* * *

The blonde Jounin walked through her village at an almost lazy pace. She was dressed in her usual attire, the same clothing that she'd wear daily about her life in the village, or to a spar, out on a mission, regardless-the people of Suna were a strong and hardy people, and even though she was one of the richer inhabitants, she wouldn't afford herself the frivolities of a separate outfit for each individual day. The woman, who was only a few days into her twenties, was currently clothed in a matte black battle kimono, a red sash holding it to her thin waist. Underneath that, it could be seen that she was wearing the mesh under armor that many shinobi chose to wear, with her feet being clad in a pair or simple combat sandals. The woman's hands each had a small, fingerless gray glove on them, and slung across her back was a very large and powerful battle fan, closed and locked close to her body.

The most peculiar thing about the woman though, was her chosen hair style. Just above her tanned skin and teal eyes, was her sandy blonde hair that was pulled back into four spiked ponytails at the back of her head. Her villages Hitai-Ite was tied around her neck, proudly on display for all to see, just above her somewhat revealing neckline. All in all, the woman gave off a very powerful and confident aura as she walked the village of Sunagakure, where she had been born and raised, living her life among the harsh and unforgiving sands. After all, it wouldn't do for the daughter of the Kazekage to appear weak, and she absolutely refused to tarnish her family's name.

Sabaku no Temari sighed as she walked through the streets of her village. The next few days were going to be interesting, to say the least. There was a team from Konoha here at the moment, and while she was assisting in the negotiations between one of their Elite Jounin, her brother Kankuro would be working closely with the other members of the team at the hospital, his expertise on the various poisons of the region being near invaluable to the medical staff. Her other brother… the sandy blonde paused in her thoughts as an involuntary shudder ran down her spine, causing her to catch herself on a step before recomposing and continuing on her walk.

The Desert Flower was terrified of her youngest brother, Gaara, and for good reason. The boy had threatened to kill her and her brother on numerous occasions, and several times had actually tried, before being stopped and subdued by their father and his potent Gold-Dust Technique. She wanted to love her brother, she truly did, but the young boy just seemed too far gone in her eyes. It hadn't been too long ago, a few years at best, before her own father, the Yondaime Kazekage himself, had given up on sending the assassination teams against the small monster, after they continually ended up in failure. Though the blonde hated herself for it, she had noticed them in the nights when she was younger, praying for and giving them all the hope in the world to kill the metaphorical monster that lived under her bed and in her closet.

But they had all failed, and eventually, Rasa had given up on the assassinations, but also giving up on changing the nature of his youngest son, believing that the damage was too deep, his insanity too far set in his ways for him fully change. That isn't to say that he didn't love his son, though. And Temari certainly loved Gaara, but the younger woman was still scared of him. And honestly, how couldn't one be scared of someone when they had the power to crush you on a mere whim, their power completely unrelenting and absurdly strong, suffocating even. It was intoxicating, the strength tha-

The blonde was yanked from her thoughts as she stumbled into someone, her thoughts had so distracted her that she had been walking near aimlessly through the streets, a thousand yard stare written across her face as she fell to the ground, but never made it all the way, a small gust of wind ruffling her clothing before she felt herself being held in a pair of muscled, strong arms. Now back in a right state of mind, Temari looked up and to her left, her eyes widening at the sight of the man before her, looking down at her with concern and mild confusion, as if he had been doing the same thing before knocking into her.

Cobalt eyes met teal ones for the first time as Naruto looked down at the woman he had crashed into, the two whisker-like scars that had almost faded from his face giving him an almost feral look. He had been thinking about a lot of things as he went, mostly about the battles that would be in the coming months, his look a faraway one, before he had quite literally run headlong into the girl, knocking her off balance and down to the ground. It had only been though a very quick reaction of his, and coupled with his already incredible speed, that he had been able to maneuver himself to the falling woman's side and reach his arms out, catching her as she fell, one arm snaking across her back, the other falling around her waist. It was comical, really. It would have looked like he was about to dip her, had they been dancing and not fumbling around in the streets like fools.

"I'm sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, uhh…." Naruto began, sheepishly as he helped the falling woman back to her feet, a small blush creeping across both of their features as he helped her stand from the compromising position they had been in. Temari recovered first, pulling herself from her stupor to take in the man that had caught her, outwardly looking as though she hadn't minded, but on the inside cursing herself for being so careless, all while taking in the defined form of the man before her. Naruto had forgone his jacket for the hot and harsh climate of Suna, dressing only in his usual combat attire, his sword slung easily across his back as he dusted himself off, before offering a hand to the woman before him.

"Temari. Don't worry about it, I wasn't watching where I was going either." The older blonde woman stated simply as she shook the man's hand, only now noticing the Konoha Hitai-Ite tied around his waist, the other one with the kanji for 'Oil' held in place on the other side before she immediately put two and two together and realizing that he must be one of the liaisons that had come from Konohagakure. Returning her hand to her side after her brief introduction to the blonde, she looked up at him, the man being only just slightly taller than her before she spoke once more. "I didn't catch your name?"

"That's because I never said it. But since you were kind enough to give me the courtesy, I can do the same. Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde let out with a smirk, and a small laugh. The girl in front of him could certainly play games, that was for sure. At the same time, Temari was sizing him up, having confirmed his identity as the one, single liaison that was going to be meeting with her father the following day. This was a chance unlike many others in negotiation. She knew who he was, but at the same point it appeared that the man before her was unaware of her identity, even though they had both revealed their names. Perhaps she could glean a little additional knowledge for the coming parley tomorrow by finding out what she could tonight?

"Well, Uzumaki-San, allow me to buy you a drink or two, to repay you with a little 'Sunagakure Hospitality' after I so carelessly knocked into you." The sandy blonde offered, smiling up at the blonde. She had to sell this if she wanted it to work, so the woman was pulling out all of her charms against the equally attractive blonde. She knew that she was a fairly good looking woman, with her curves being accentuated by her outfit, and though her kimono hid it for the most part, she had a very Adonis-like body, which when applied in the right way, was a serious advantage to be had during a diplomatic relation, especially when her counterpart was a male.

Naruto merely grinned at this, he wasn't a fool, he'd been a part of this exact scenario before, though the roles were reversed and he had been in ANBU at the time. He knew the woman from somewhere, but at the moment he couldn't seem to place her, so why not? He could go for a drink anyways, and his team was all out and about in the village themselves, well almost all of them. Sai had elected to stay in, and Sakura had managed to actually drag Sasuke away to go look at something or another. The blonde laughed mentally for a brief moment. Sakura hadn't changed much, she still wanted after the last Uchiha with all she had, and though he knew he'd never admit it, Sasuke enjoyed the attention he got from his former-fangirl. The two would make a cute couple one day.

Turing his thoughts back to the matter at hand, the Last Uzumaki gave one of his trademarked foxlike grins, slipping both of his hands inside his pockets as he looked to the slightly shorter dusty blonde in front of him. He could have some fun, regardless of the ulterior motives of the girl. Hell, she'd probably loosen up too, and after everything he'd been through, he could kick back every now and then. "Please, call me Naruto, the honorifics make me feel old. And as for the drink, that actually sounds great. I don't know where anything is around here though, so you'll have to lead."

"Fine with me, _Naruto_ , I know a nice little place just down the street…" And with the simple sentence, the two left the area they'd been, a Demon Fox and a Desert Flower.

* * *

"Jounin Uzumaki, please follow me to the Kazekage's Office, your scheduled meeting will begin shortly."

Naruto stood up from the chair he had been sitting in in the reception room of the Kazekage's building. Unlike in Konoha, where the Hokage had a large and visible tower, in Suna the building where the Kazekage did all of his administrative work and day to day activities was quite unassuming in nature, and had you not known what it was used for, it could even pass for another warehouse in the storage district of the village. As the blonde moved from his seat to walk across the room and follow the short secretary that had called to him, his thoughts were directed to the evening he had had the night before.

The Jounin from Konoha had been led to a small, unassuming bar on the eastern side of Suna by the blonde next to him, and in all honesty hed admit that he had a genuinely good time. It had become clear to the woman in his company that she wasn't going to get any information from him unless he willingly gave it up, that much the Konoha shinobi had made clear, and after an hour or so of trying to extort it from him, she had given up in the endeavor. The two had stayed at the little tavern, aptly named the _Swooning Scorpion_ , and had even had a few drinks together, neither one overdoing it but at the same time enjoying themselves a fair amount.

Afterwards, when the blonde duo had left the building, they had realized just how late it had become, and with no ulterior motive in line, the Last Uzumaki had offered to walk the Sand Princess to her home, an offer that though she could have easily refused, being a powerful Jounin in her own right and fully capable of protecting herself, had happily accepted. It wasn't often that she was treated in such a way, due to her status and stature in the village hidden in the sand and her family relations did little to empower people to approach her, and she had to admit she did enjoy the feeling of being around someone other than her family or servants.

It hadn't taken the two long to come to the Sabaku Estate, a fairly large house, one that could almost be considered a mansion. The two had parted at the gates of her house, both parties admitting that they had had a good time, before there was a brief silence that both had stood still next to each other, face to face in the moonlight. Temari had sighed, softly. She loved the village at night, especially the way the stars shown down on the harsh and unforgiving forest, and she briefly looked up to them for a moment, before turning her head back to the Konoha Shinobi in front of her that she'd spent the night with, only to find him walking away from her already, a hand raised over his shoulder in aloof farewell. The sandy blonde woman frowned slightly to herself, before she entered the gates to her home for the night.

The blonde was pulled from his whatever musings he had as he walked through the final door to the Kazekage's office, stepping inside of it and after a brief adjustment to the brighter than normal lighting of the room, he was surprised to find the woman he had just been recollecting over standing just to the right of her Kage and father. Temari allowed a small smirk to grace her lips as she watched the barely concealed raised eyebrow of the blonde twitch in recognition as her briefly nodded to her, almost imperceptibly as he turned back to the man himself.

The Yondaime Kazekage, Sabaku no Rasa, was dressed in the typical green and white robes that all the five Kage wore, his dark skin and maroon hair being of stark contrast to the pristine cloth on his body. The man was older, only a few years his own Hokage's elder, if Naruto were to hazard a guess, and while the man seemed a little small behind his desk, he had no doubt the power the man possessed within him, he was worthy of his title, after all. The man cleared his throat briefly, before addressing the blonde man in the room, watching with mild mirth as the man pulled his eyes from his daughter to himself. He _was_ still a dad, no matter how old his little girl got.

"So, Jounin Uzumaki, it is my understanding that your Hokage had something he wanted me to look over, and it was important enough that he couldn't just send his usual envoy or a messenger raven either. So out with it." If Naruto was unperturbed by the man's tone, he did a remarkable job of hiding it, pulling upon his training and experience from his time in the Seventh Division once more, the knowledge never seeming to fail him, even now after so many years being away from it all.

"Yes, Kazekage-Sama." Briefly reaching within one of his many pockets, the youngest blonde in the room produced a scroll, handing it over to the red haired Kage, before he retook his place at the center of the other side of the table. "Within that scroll you'll find all the intelligence the Leaf has on an organization that goes by the moniker 'Akatsuki'. This group on the surface appears to be nothing more than a mercenary group originating from Amegakure, however, it is underneath that that things become more sinister." At this, the Last Uzumaki paused to let his words sink in, before he started up once more.

"The group itself seems to be comprised entirely of and only Missing Nin of S-Rank status. These ninja come from all over the elemental nations, and as each rank of them is assumed, it is also quite clear the amount of damage one of them, let alone all of them combined could cause. There numbers are currently unknown, but a few members have been confirmed and their identities revealed, their information in the scroll you're holding. While there have only been a small amount of them so far, it is highly likely that there are more of them, and that their leader is someone of immense power, if he is commanding them all with indifference."

The blonde paused once more as the Kage had finished skimming though the information, before he handed it off to his daughter, Temari, her brow wrinkling visibly as she went through the information. Before the Kazekage or his child could comment on it any further though, Naruto had decided to go for broke and push out his last point he wanted to hammer home into the minds of his nations allies. "Akatsuki's motives, while still largely unknown, are no doubt dangerous, and they have already begun taking steps to further their goal. These steps involve the Jinchuriki, every single one of them, and we have it on good authority that they have already captured and contained the Sanbi while it was in its normal form, and the Nanabi Jinchuriki."

The Yondaime Kazekage frowned, bringing his hands to rest in front of his face, crossing his fingers and narrowing his eyes at the blonde before speaking, only one question on his mind for this second. "You just said that this 'Akatsuki' is capturing the Jinchuriki, and that you still have no idea why. How do you even know that they are capturing them? Konoha has no 'demon-host', so they couldn't know if one of their own went missing. How do you even know that this group is doing these acts you claim?" Rasa's voice was calm, and collected, but his tone made it clear he wasn't really buying what the blonde shinobi was selling.

Naruto didn't blink, didn't miss a beat as he answered, and answered in a way that could have large negative repercussions for revealing what he was about to, as the events had been locked down to prevent disorder. "I know because I was there for both occurrences concerning the Sanbi and Nanabi. With the Sanbi, I watched, unable to do anything, as a man appeared from seemingly nowhere took the scroll that had the beast within it, and then vanished again afterwards. Before that, I was the one who killed and claimed the bounty on Akasuna no Sasori, who was dressed in the garb of this organization and in pursuit of the Sanbi itself."

The Kazekage was only just able to conceal the shocked expression at the blonde's revelation. He had heard tales that the blonde shinobi was strong, stories from his exploits in Konoha's most recent war had reached even Suna, but to think he was the one to kill Sasori so long ago… the man did the math in his head, and was made aware that if what Naruto said was true, then he killed Sasori when he was a mere fourteen years old! To his right, his daughter and advisor, the woman he was grooming for political power and training had much the same look, though she did a worse job of concealing her thoughts on the man she had met the night prior. Once again though, before they were able to comment, the Jounin spoke up once more.

"And as for the Nanabi, I defeated her in single combat, and had captured her. However when I went to retrieve her sealed body, a missing nin from Iwa known as Diedara joined the battlefield, and after my recent battle with the Jinchuriki I was unable to prevent her capture. Once again, the man was wearing the Black cloak and Red clouds of Akatsuki, and he had taken the Jinchuriki." Here the blonde stopped dead in his tracks, looking from the man to his daughter, as the full account of his strength was taken into account. Before them no longer stood a simple Jounin. Before them stood a man who had beaten two Bijuu and won a war on his own. He wasn't something to be taken lightly. Naruto himself was a master orator, and his ability to talk would one day become legendary as he turned enemies to friends, and talked nations down from conflict, and it showed as he spoke once more.

"I stand before you both today not as an envoy from the Hokage, but as my village itself. I ask that though we already have a steady alliance between Fire and Wind, that we strengthen it in our fight against a common enemy: the organization known as Akatsuki. They've already come for several Jinchuriki, and those are just the ones we know about, but what of the others?" Naruto paused, sucking in a final breath as he was about to deliver the punchline, the cornerstone that would be this negotiation. "What would be of your own _son?_ " He looked to Temari, cobalt eyes meeting teal once more. "What of your _brother?"_

The Kazekage leant back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly as he began to think things over, and the room went silent. However, the silence itself wasn't to last as the door was haphazardly thrown open, the same secretary that had escorted the Konoha Nin entering the room quickly and all but yelling to her Kage. "Kazekage-Sama! There's been an attack! Gaara-Sama's quarters were assaulted before he was forced outside the walls, cause unknown." The man's eyes snapped open and he was sitting up properly in an instant, his prior laid back attitude forgotten as he stood up, every bit the leader of the village he was raised in. The man took a brief second to think, before he asked a single, solidary question.

"What did the assailants look like?" The woman before him quivered a little bit at the tone of his voice, before she stole her emotions and held back the fear in her voice, answering with confidence.

"Black cloaks with Red clouds, Kazekage-Sama." Before the final honorific was out of her mouth, the Kazekage was in action, his voice stern and terse, every bit the military commander he needed to be. The redhead turned to the only foreign ninja in the room, and began addressing him as if her were one of his own.

"You, Konoha-Nin. You come here under talks of allegiance to this enemy, and claim to have already fought in battle against them. You will assist my son in battle outside of the walls against this 'Akatsuki', call it a gesture of good faith from both villages, as well as to support your commitment to this treaty. I will organize the defense and mobilization of the ninja, of which Temari will assist me with. Am I clear, Uzumaki?" The two locked eyes for a brief moment, and even as a bystander Temari could feel the tension. It was quite clear that the Konoha Jounin didn't take kindly to someone who wasn't his Kage ordering him around.

After a brief, tense moment, the aura of the room relaxed, before Naruto put a terse smile on his desk as he pulled a single kunai from his pocket, opening the window and throwing it outside with force, as he turned to look the Kazekage dead in the eyes once more, speaking solemnly. "If you required a gesture of faith, Kazekage-Sama, all you had to do was ask nicely. However, you had better hold up your end of the bargain. _Am I clear?"_ The Last Uzumaki gave neither of them any time to respond as he disappeared from the room in a bright flash of blue, the intent behind his words quite clear in the room.

Neither occupant of the Kazekage's office moved for a brief moment, despite the danger to the village that was currently happening. The two had just witnessed the technique of a man long dead, a move that had destroyed armies and been pitted against legends, before diving into the realm of legend itself. Temari was dumbfounded, her father much the same for a brief moment in time before he forced himself back into action, the words of the Last Uzumaki forced to the back of his mind as he moved though the building, and out to the streets.

He had a defense to organize.

* * *

It hadn't taken the blonde shinobi long to traverse the village, using his method of flashing to a kunai, and then hurling it as far as he could before repeating the process, and it had only been a few minutes from the time he had left the Kazekage to the time that he landed outside the village, spinning his head around before he found the source of the issues, namely, the giant sandstorm brewing off to the west. Alright, guess that's where shit was going down, then. Time to move.

Throwing his kunai yet again, the Jounin disappeared in his trademark flash of cobalt, reappearing on top of the knife buried in the sand, creating a rough trifecta between the four men. In one corner stood the Akatsuki members, two men wearing the red clouds adorned on black clouds of their organization, but that is where the similarities stopped between the two. While both were men, the one on the right was the only one with any revealed weaponry, a large scythe held in one hand, while the other laid bare. But that isn't what began to throw Naruto off, that right was reserved for the man's visage. Underneath his silver hair and laid bare upon his fair and unblemished skin, was a maniacal, gigantic grin that spread from ear to ear, revealing his blindingly white teeth.

The other man was taller by at least several inches, his Hitai-Ite covering his forehead, and a black-colored mask covering his lower face, allowing only his eyes to be seen. There was also a white hood that covered the top of his head and all of his hair, the rest of his body hid by the large cloak he wore. Most notably was the slashed Takigakure headband that he wore, showing his status as a missing nin. And then there was the man that Naruto could only assume to be Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi, standing across from the two men, them having clearly been in the middle of a conversation just before he had arrived.

The blonde shinobi glanced quickly to his right, taking in the form of his would-be ally in the coming fight as he readied himself for the coming combat. The Ichibi Jinchuriki had donned a long-sleeved crimson coat and full-length dark trousers with a pair of black combat sandals. Over the coat the redhead wore two buckled belts, with a grey vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder, and two more belts which he was using to carry the rather large gourd on his back, the cork having been long removed from the top, sand flowing freely from the top of it. But the boy's eyes were different than most, while green in nature, he lacked pupils, or even eyebrows for that matter, and on the left of face, on the man's forehead, was the kanji for 'Love', apparently having been carved into his skull long ago.

Naruto nodded briefly to himself, before moving towards the person he had confirmed as Sabaku no Gaara, walking calmly towards the man who only raised one of his nonexistent eyebrows at him as he moved, the redhead's arms crossed over his chest in a seemingly disinterested manner as he spoke. "You…you are like me. I can feel it. Who are you?" The Jounin of Konoha sighed as he walked, mentally chastising the man as he did so, revealing his identity to everyone in the area like that wasn't exactly a good idea. The blonde hadn't made it more than six feet before a wave of sand moved to intercept him, forcing him to jump back, an angered look on his face as the two members of Akatsuki watched on in disbelief.

"Calm down, Gaara. I'm your back up. The Kazekage sent me to help you fight these two." But the words fell on deaf ears, apparently, as the chakra infused sand from the redhead Jinchuriki continued to attack the blonde shinobi whenever he attempted to advance, the man himself seemingly struggling with something deep within himself. As Naruto watched the spectacle, he was still consciously aware of the two sure enemies in the area moving to either side of Gaara and himself. This wasn't good, not good at all. He'd read reports on Gaara, of course, and from them it looked as if the man were only a few steps from completely insane.

If the youngest son of the Kazekage lost control here, in the middle of the desert, when his primary skill was controlling _sand_ , Naruto was in quite deep shit. He couldn't seal the man's power back within his body, not when he was in combat against two unknown and quite dangerous enemies, and if Gaara lost control, then he would also have an enraged Jinchuriki to contend with, something that he had done before and had honestly hoped to avoid. The blonde ducked under yet another wave of sand, hoping against hope that the crazed man would come to his senses as he moved. Fuck, this was supposed to be a diplomatic mission and here he was about to get into a fight with a goddamn Jinchuriki and two S-Class criminals!

And then, all of Naruto's hopes were thrown to the wind as Gaara looked up to him, his green eyes making contact with the blonde's own electric blue, a grim smile set upon his face as he took in the bloodshot irises of his supposed ally. "I can _feel_ it! I can feel your strength! All of it, all of you, I will prove my existence through your death!" And then, all hell broke loose. The silver haired member of Akatsuki that Naruto had heard called 'Hidan' brandished his scythe, screaming a vicious battle cry and sprinting towards the Ichibi host, as the man behind him, Kakuzu, if he remembered correctly from the bingo book, shot his arm forward at him, black threads bursting from his severed limb.

The blonde shinobi cursed briefly, jumping out of the way and turning to face the cloaked man, his eyes narrowing as he moved. Hopefully Gaara would stay occupied with the other man for now, and give him time to deal with this one, after that he could worry about the Jinchuriki, but for now he had his own problems to deal with. He wasted no time in beginning to channel his chakra and flash through hand seals, before he was abruptly slammed into from behind by a wave of sand, the particles constricting around him and threating to crush the life out of him before he managed to flash out of the situation, barely dodging a wild strike from Hidan's scythe.

He grit his teeth, they wanted a three way fight? Fine. He could do that, it wouldn't be easy, but he could pull it off. Naruto wasted no time, every second counting as he formed several Kage Bunshin, their roles already known to them as they poofed into existence, the original already ignoring and blocking out the words of his three opponents, no longer caring for what they had to say as all three had made themselves a threat. Gone was the happy, if still broken man that had been the Last Uzumaki, and in his place stood Lynx, former Captain of the Seventh Division of Konoha's ANBU Corps, the legend himself.

Several things began to happen at once, the first and most prominent one being that the original Naruto had pulled his sword from its scabbard, moving to intercept the running and screaming Hidan, and engaging him in a fierce battle of Kenjutsu. While the man before him wasn't particularly skilled, his wild moves were absolutely hard to predict, and so far he had seemed to car whenever the blonde managed to get a cut on him. Behind him, his clones had already begun their assault on the other two people in the area, their hands flashing through the seals for their deadly combination jutsu as they moved.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no _Jutsu!_ (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!)" "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!) "Katon: Hiendan! (Fire Release: Soaring Flame Bullets!)" "Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)" "Futon: Renkūdan! (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!)" The clones screamed their techniques, dispersing as they did so, the now absurdly large and volatile wall of chakra induced flame covering a great area as it flew towards both Kakuzu and Gaara, with the latter simply raising a solid wall of sand to cover himself, the former attempting to move out of the way.

The other several clones the blonde had made had launched themselves into the air, allowing a rain of their kunai to fall across the battlefield, greatly opening the blonde's avenues of attack against his enemies, before they also landed on the rough sand of the ground, their hands also a blur as they flashed through seals of their own, their goal clearly in mind as they moved, surrounding the form of Hidan as the original pulled back, catching the man in a rough cross, one bunshin on each side of him, all thrusting their hands out and calling out in unison.

"Fūton: Fuujin Seiken! (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!)" Hidan's eyes could only briefly widen as he screamed out in agony, beautiful agony as the four large compressed blasts of overcharged wind slammed into his body, crushing his bones down to a pulp and reducing the man's body to a compressed blob, every bone in his body broken from the impact. The jutsu normally had the force to crush incredibly large and dense boulders, and was capable of leaving a large and lasting imprint on a mountain itself, and Hidan had just taken four of them at once, his body caught in the middle. It was amazing he was able to even scream.

The crazed and nearly destroyed man didn't even had time to lament in his pain though, as the original had already launched himself back towards the compressed man, Kaze no Karitoriki gleaming in the sunlight as he moved, appearing in the front of the man, then vanishing, and showing up behind him, flicking a small amount of blood from his blade. A second later Hidan's severed head fell to the ground, a look of shock upon his face for a mere moment, his eye twitching. Naruto turned around as he moved to face his other two enemies, already attempting to plan a way to subdue the Jinchuriki before he was frozen in his tracks as Hidan _screamed._

The Last Uzumaki turned his head over his shoulder, looking on in abject wonder and horror as the severed head on the ground cursed and screamed and yelled. He quickly created more clones, their purpose set to buy him a little more time as he moved back to the head. He had to stop this _thing_ now, he didn't know if it could regenerate or whatever abilities it had, but if the crazed man would live through a bone crushing combination attack, and then get decapitated, he didn't want to know what else it could do. Kneeling down next to the fallen head that was cursing him to hell and beyond, Naruto channeled his chakra into his blade, forming it to the cutting nature of the wind, and brought it down.

Hidan's severed head was separated into two pieces, and then four, as it was cut in two and then two again, the screaming finally stopping. Whatever this man had been, Naruto doubted that he could regenerate from that, and if the scythe wielder did, he wasn't sure what he could do to kill him. But the blonde would worry about that later, as he felt the last of his clones die in their fight against the remaining member of Akatsuki and the enraged Ichibi Jinchuriki. He still had a fight to finish.

As he moved back towards the other two fighters, Naruto became aware of a few things, both from his own observations and from the memories of the kage bunshin he had previously send into battle. The worst of these, was that Gaara had apparently lost himself even more to the beast he carried within him, having formed the left arm and torso of the tanuki inside him, his visage that of crazed bloodlust. It also appeared as though Kakuzu had wounded him at some point, if the blood coating his side was any indicator.

Naruto had little time to go over these facts though as he began to rapidly flash between the kunai imbedded in the sand, noting that their positions were constantly changing as the sand shifted with the Jinchuriki's rage, throwing the particles around and even absorbing some of the tri-pronged kunai themselves into his body. The Kyuubi Jinchuriki collected his thoughts and narrowed his eyes. That wasn't good, once again, the Hiraishin was being somewhat neutralized by his opponents, the jutsu in reality wasn't the end all to be all of jutsu like many people believed it to be, and while it was certainly useful, it still had multiple drawbacks.

But still, he had many left, and hed take advantage of them as long as he could. As the blonde moved, he was idly aware of the masked former Taki-Nin yelling something about 'how a young brat like him couldn't hope to kill someone who had fought the Shodai Hokage and survived', but he wasn't really paying attention. The former Captain had a job to do, and he _would_ complete it or die trying. In a burst of speed, he appeared behind Kakuzu, just narrowly dodging a wave of sand from the enraged Jinchuriki as the masked man turned on a dime, and thrust his hand forward and through the blonde's chest, grinning beneath his mask as he did so, before it slipped from his face as a chakra laced blade pierced his chest form behind, slicing his heart in two.

Naruto jumped back once more, dodging yet another blast of sand from the Ichibi, who was by now quite pissed that it was being ignored and seemingly forgotten about during the brief conflict the other two had had. Once again, for the second time that day and in just a few minutes, the blonde's eyes widened in surprise as Kakuzu's form shifted from his spot in the sand, before he ripped his cloak from his body, revealing his upper body to the world for the first time in many years. His torso was covered in black threads, revealing all the stitches on his torso. Upon his back were four masks, and they vibrated briefly before they all launched from the man's back, forming into creatures next to their master.

The Uzumaki heir was briefly aware of Kakuzu explaining his technique, and about how each one of the masks had a clear element, and he explained to the blonde that he would more or less have to kill him a total of five times for him to stay down, as each beating heart gave him life and vitality. Running across the sand, the Jounin made it his immediate mission to kill the additional member of Akatsuki first, before he moved to deal with Gaara, his mission was to provide support and protect the man, after all, regardless of whether the demon host wanted to kill him or not.

He moved quickly, replacing his katana in the sheathe upon his back, his hands already flying through seals for jutsu as kage bunshin appeared on either side of him, taking in the new appearance of the masks before him and guessing at their affinities. The first heart had a fire affinity, and took on the shape of a demonic tiger, while the second one appeared to contain a lightning affinity, and took on the shape of some sort of deformed bipedal figure. The one he could only assume that he had previously killed was the water affinity, and he watched as it crumbled into a mass of black tendrils on the sand, while the fourth he guess was the wind affinity, and formed a strange four-legged body with thin wings. That left Kakuzu himself with the wind affinity.

Forming a few more clones with the mission to evade and keep the Suna Jinchuriki busy, Naruto began his assault, watching in interest as the Fire mask and Wind mask combined into a large mass, their forms merging as it let out a combination attack of its own to combat his technique. "Katon: Zukokku! (Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!)", "Fūton: Atsugai! (Wind Release: Pressure Damage!)". The masks both opened their large mouths, and the ensuing firestorm that ensued would have burned down the entire surrounding area, turning the sand beneath them all into glass had the blondes own technique not stopped it in its tracks.

Three identical cries of "Doton: Doryūheki! (Earth Release: Mud Wall!)" rang out, and the sand below him parted even as his clones dispelled, the fire from his opponents breaking easily through the first wall, crashing briefly through the second, before it was finally held back by the third. But by the time the wall fell, Naruto had already moved, noting that the clones he had created were being slowly whittled down by the Jinchuriki in blood rage a short distance away. His hands blurred once more as he appeared near the combined form of the wind and fire masks, his hands stopping as he called out into the heated air.

"Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!)" His hands had already begun blurring again as his first jutsu completed, the man calling out the techniques name in a low growl as he continued to move. "Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!)" The effects were immediate, the lightning moving along the ground at a rapid pace, before making contact with the beast and destabilizing its transformation as the treads holding it together loosened, before the multiple blades of wind launched and sliced it down the center, nearly severing the two masks from each other, and then the final portion of the blonde's plan came into action, as a single kunai pierced the haze, stabbing into the center mass of the two.

There was a brief flash of blue, and then Naruto himself appeared where his kunai had been, a Rasengan already formed in each hand as he forced each of his palms into the porcelain masks on either side of him, his cobalt eyes staring straight at Kakuzu as the two forms next to him crumbled to the ground like their water styled counterpart. As the swirling balls of energy in his hands died down, the blonde was about to move forwards once again before his head snapped to the right and he flashed out of the area, a literal waterfall of sand cascading down on the area that he and Kakuzu had been before, the masked man also managing to escape from the attack, though the final mask wasn't so lucky, if the screams coming from inside were anything to go off of.

Naruto leapt back, dodging once again as the sand came at him from seemingly all angles. A quick glance was all he needed to know that the Ichibi had completely taken over Gaara's form, the man himself fast asleep on his head as the beast itself roared about how it would kill its older, nine-tailed brother, attempting to goad the blonde Jounin into calling upon his tenant's power. The blonde was still keeping with his calm façade, though on the inside his mind was going a mile a minute, the situation was seriously going downhill fast, though he had already dealt with one of the threats already and the other wasn't far off.

He briefly took the masked member of Akatsuki into account, the man had yet to do anything other than dodge and attempt to engage him in Taijutsu, leaving his formerly alive masks to do the jutsu work for him, though now that was subject to change as they had all been killed by either Gaara or himself. In addition, he knew the man could harden his skin to a near impenetrable level, regardless of whatever Ninjutsu he knew. It could be worse, he mused. He still had a good third of his chakra left, which was nice considering the sheer amount of clones he had made prior, in addition to all the high level Ninjutsu he had been throwing around without regard.

While it was true that he had large chakra reserves, everyone had their limit, and Kage Bunshin were labeled a Kinjutsu for a reason. Still though, if he was careful, Naruto was sure he could come out on top. In a high stakes battle like this, any thoughts of failure could result in the loss of the battle, and possibly even death. The blonde shinobi breathed heavily, wondering to himself for a brief moment just _how long_ it would take for the Kazekage to mobilize his forces and come to his aid, as fighting a Jinchuriki and two S-Ranked Nin wasn't an easy task. Collecting his thoughts, the Konoha Jounin launched himself forward again, ducking and weaving around the various sand attacks that were thrown his way.

Kakuzu himself was doing much the same as he was, though it appeared as though he was a little worse for wear than the blonde shinobi. The man had already lost all four of his masks, and was now only relying on his final heart of earth affinity. Fighting not one, but two Jinchuriki was definitely taking its toll on him, and it was showing, even though one of the men had yet to call on his tenant's power. This wasn't going well for him, and as his partner had been immobilized, he wasn't going to get any backup either. The self-professed treasurer of the Akatsuki knew he was looking at his grave in the sands of the desert, and strangely, he wasn't afraid, but more calm looking into his final moments.

His thoughts were on the long life he had lived when the short, but intense Taijutsu battle he was having with the blonde ended abruptly, a fist exploding from the ground underneath him and catching him in the jaw, momentarily breaking his concentration and loosening his hold over the skin hardening technique he had been holing, his skin momentarily returning to normal before he began to reaffirm it. That was all the opening that the elite Jounin of Konoha needed, as he flashed behind the man, and taking no chance, muttered the words for the technique that would end the old man's life.

"Katon: Hi no ken. (Fire Release: Fist of Fire.)". His fist rapidly became enshrouded in flame, the fire licking and burning his hand as the double edged sword of a jutsu swung around, penetrating the now unshielded skull of Kakuzu, pushing through from the back and out of the front, burning everything in between to ash. Naruto turned, grabbing the man's shoulder and pushed off on it as he yanked his now extinguished palm from the deceased man's skull, watching briefly as the body fell to the ground.

He was given no respite though, as he was now getting pushed back by the large frame of the beast that was Shukaku, the One-Tail, between the beast massive sand attacks, physical swings of its limbs, and the Ichibi's lethal wind chakra. Naruto cursed as he moved, dodging constantly and evading what he could, a substitution here and there, he just _had_ to fight the one person in the world who controlled sand in the middle of the _fucking desert_. Sometimes, he swore he had the worst luck.

The blonde could have been in a worse bind, though. He could plainly see the redhead on the top of the giant tanuki's head, and if he could guess all he had to do was wake the bastard up before this thing could be put back under wraps like it was supposed to be. Thinking on his feet was a specialty of the blond shinobi, and he'd make great use of it here, a plan already formulating in his mind as he ducked and wove, moving towards the beast in an abrupt change of pace, already channeling his chakra into his limbs in preparation.

Naruto dodged yet another giant fist of sand, ignoring the particles that flew past his face, cutting it slightly as he moved, his legs were a blur, before he launched himself straight up, flashing to one of the kunai the man had absorbed into his body, appearing just on top of the beasts shoulder and sprinting towards its head, noting that the sand was collecting around his sandaled feet, slowing him in an attempt to stop him completely. The blonde Jounin forced the chakra in his feet to overload, launching him off of the beast in a small burst, as if he had messed up on the tree climbing exercise, throwing the second motion into action.

In the air, being launched from the large tanuki, he created a clone, it grabbing his arm and spinning, throwing him towards the beasts head, his fist outstretched and his fingers closed, teeth grit for the punch that was about to ensue, before his plan was forced onto the backburner. As Naruto had crossed the distance through the air towards the sleeping Gaara, he had forced himself to focus to much that he didn't notice the large approaching fist of Shukaku until it was nearly too late, and as such he was only barely able to block some of the force of the blow, though it still launched his airborne form into the unforgiving sands below.

The last Uzumaki coughed briefly, noting with a small amount of alarm that there was blood in the mix, before he stood up, and his eyes narrowed as his vision cleared, noticing that Shukaku was no longer focusing on him. No, the beasts rage was elsewhere, and it only took the blonde an instant to realize who it was on, the small, flickering particles of Gold-Dust flipping through the air, mixing with the sand and holding it down, the small form of an older man with red hair facing down the large sand covered beast itself, not a lick of fear in his eyes.

The Kazekage had arrived.

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 **Author's Note:**

 **Annnnnnd that's that for this chapter, bit of a longer one, and actually the longest one I've ever wrote. I apologize in advance for the combat scene, I actually wrote and rewrote it three times before I was even mildly satisfied with it, and even now I feel it could be better, but oh well, I'll get better as time goes on. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	19. Lines in the Sand

**Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! Blows my mind that this is already the 19** **th** **installment of an idea that popped into my head one day. I'm super happy that you all are enjoying it so far, and damn! Already over 25K hits! That's awesome, seriously. You all rock. Anyways... On to the chapter!**

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 **Chapter 19**

 **Lines in the Sand**

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It hadn't taken the Yondaime Kazekage Sabaku no Rasa long to subdue the Ichibi, and by proxy, his son, Gaara, and honestly, Naruto was pretty grateful that the redhead arrived when he did. The blonde shinobi had been in a short, but no less harrowing and dangerous fight between two S-Class Nin, which while hard enough to deal with was made several times harder when there was a loosed Jinchuriki thrown into the mix, of who he wasn't allowed to harm unless all else failed. That isn't to say that he couldn't have won against the enraged beast, just that he was grateful for the assistance, however late it had been in coming to him.

It was true that he could have eventually either woken up or completely sealed of the Ichibi and in turn, Gaara, but it would have taken some time to set up the appropriate seals and get everything into place. It came back on him, really. Naruto hadn't anticipated that he would be fighting this mission, and especially not against a kami-forsaken Jinchuriki of all things, let alone Akatsuki. This was _supposed_ to be a strictly diplomatic mission, anyways, meant to do nothing more than inform the leadership in Sunagakure to the worldwide threat if they didn't already know.

And if they didn't know before, or for some reason didn't believe him when he briefed the Kazekage, the Suna council would have no choice to now, with them literally holding the evidence within their walls of the brief conflict with Akatsuki. Naruto sighed as he walked away from the Kazekage's building, the wind at his back and sand upon his feet as he tread aimlessly through the city. He had just come from the man's office himself, the day after the battle with the two men, now identified both as missing nin, and confirmed members of the organization they had feared. Naruto had been happy to collect on the bounty that was posted for both men, and he was also confident that it would raise his standing with the current Wind Shadow, as well, helping to convince the man to join the coalition.

The Kazekage was now meeting with his advisors, and the council of Suna was now looking over his proposal. The blonde was fairly sure that they would accept his request, and join the now budding alliance though, there was really nothing for them to lose in the arrangement, and everything for the village hidden in the sands to gain. Though Konoha had recently come through a war, they were still the biggest military superpower in the elemental nations, and the Leaf would happily prove it again to anyone who dared to ask. It couldn't hurt any nation to have an ally as such, with the Konoha Nin constantly proving that there was no better friend, and no worse enemy to have.

But it could also be shown as a double edged sword. While the Leaf was eager to keep up appearances and still show that they were indeed the strongest of the Big Five, it could be seen as a sign of weakness that they were asking for help and pushing for treaties as they were. The current Hokage however, was fond of the saying 'Do not mistake my Kindness for Weakness', and the Last Hatake fully planned on implementing this mindset into his shinobi and kunoichi. Naruto himself was in support of the mindset, and fully knew the benefits of having a vast array of allies, even across the varying nations and borders. At the end of the day, the border between one land and another was only a line written on paper, so it made sense to keep peace with one's neighbor.

All in all, he could count the trip to Sunagakure as a success, if and when the Kazekage accepted his proposal. And honestly, how could he not? Even his team had been successful in their mission, with Sakura retrieving many useful files on the deadly poisons and antidotes of the region, assisting and helping to renovating and change the Sand-Nin's own medical program in turn. The two male members, Sasuke and Sai, had been helpful in their turn as guards to the pink haired prodigal medic, and Sai had managed to even create a few paintings of the area, one of the few ways he was beginning to express himself emotionally. Sasuke had actually been the most bored out of the entire group, and spent almost the entirety of the time either training himself, or performing his duties with the Haruno girl.

The blonde sighed as he shook his head briefly, walking along the side street back towards the hotel he and his team were staying at. He had the rest of the day off, essentially, and the Kazekage's decision wouldn't be finalized until morning, after which his team would leave the village to return to Konoha, regardless of the decision. He had given his team the evening off, to do as they pleased, and once again Sakura had managed to drag the usually stoic Uchiha out to something or another, though he noted that Sasuke didn't really attempt to fight the girl off. And Sai, though Naruto himself had offered to go out with the pale man, had decided to stay in for the evening.

And that was fine with the blonde Jounin. He had plans of his own, after all. Shortly after his meeting with the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa, right after he had left the room, he had been stopped by Temari, the shorter girl calling out to him and jogging light to catch him in the hallway. The two had conversed shortly, before the year-older blonde had blushed slightly (a cute sight if he had to say so himself), and then proceeded to ask him out to dinner, as a way of making up her first meeting to him, and to apologize for her father's behavior, attempting to order him around like a Suna nin.

Temari had made it very clear that she was sorry for her initial meeting with the blonde Jounin from Konoha, and had insisted that this was only her way of apologizing for trying to scrape him for information before his meeting with the leader of the village. Naruto had attempted to quell her anxiety over the whole scenario, but to no avail, and after a moment he had accepted her offer, and he was to meet her at her estate tonight to begin her 'apology'.

The blonde shinobi grinned slightly to himself as he walked, he could certainly use the chance to unwind, so he wasn't going to complain about it. And it was nice to be in the company of someone new every once and a while as well.

* * *

"…and in conclusion, the Sand accepts the treaty from the Leaf, under the conditions set forth and agreed upon by both parties." The Kazekage finished his sentence, still seated behind his desk as he finished signing and stamping his official on a scroll, before returning it to the blonde shinobi standing in front of him. Naruto couldn't help but grin, his endeavor having been a success with the new treaty that bonded the two villages of Sunagakure and Konohagakure. Things were beginning to look up, if the last few days were anything to go off of, aside from the Akatsuki battle, of course.

But even then, his fight with the two missing-nin could be counted as a plus, as he had been able to eliminate both of them, shortening the roster of Akatsuki even more than it had already been, and all known kills of the organization belonging to the blonde shinobi. Between the successes of his own Kage's proposal to the Sand, and with that of his teams own complete side-mission, things were indeed looking good. Granted, the two villages already had a previously existing treaty, but it still was a fairly large step to take, for all villages.

All of these thoughts raced through Naruto's and his teams head's as they made their way towards the exit of the village, ready to embark on the small journey towards home with report of their completion. The Hokage would be pleased with them, and with any luck, Jiraiya would also be back in the village, maybe even with some new intelligence on the very organization that they would all soon begin hunting. But most importantly, the team of four would be granted some downtime, something that the blonde leader of the group was very much looking forward too. All the politics of merely setting up an arrangement like this hurt his head and stressed him out much more than any battle could.

Maybe it was because in battle the Legacy of the Yondaime ran by instinct and experience alone, ignoring all else in the heat of combat, trusting only in his own guts and abilities, trusting himself. In battle, the lighthearted, if somewhat damaged, blonde became an absolute menace to any enemy he faced, his analytical and evasive mind taking over, planning three, four, five, even six moves ahead in the metaphorical game of chess, while still acting and reacting by the seat of his pants, operating on a level plane the whole time. Such was the mindset that had won him every fight of the war, as also did his immense sense of honor and justice.

Naruto was yanked from his thoughts once more as his team finished filling out the appropriate forms and papers to leave the village, stepping outside of the walls into the heat of the unforgiving desert, out into the immensely bright sun across the ocean of sand. He looked to his teammates, and was about to give the order than would set their pace for the remainder of the day, before once again, for the second time in two days, he heard his name being called, and in a voice he had come to grow somewhat fond of in the short time he had been there. The Last Uzumaki turned around, and was almost immediately greeted by the dusty blonde hair of his fellow Jounin, Temari.

The woman wasted no time in running up to him, stopping just shy of being in his face, a look of ashamed anger written across her features, hands on her hips. The blonde shinobi idly noticed that the woman before his was wearing the same garb as she had the day they had met, absentmindedly noting how it somehow seemed to fit her very well, before she began talking, her words making him blush in slight embarrassment as his team stood by and watched. "So, _Naruto._ "(The girl still put the same emphasis on his name as the first time she had spoken to him, much to his chagrin), "You were just going to leave without saying goodbye? And here I thought you were a gentleman…"

Cobalt eyes met Teal ones as the Naruto looked down into the eyes of the girl he had spent the previous evening with, his right arm coming up to scratch the back of his head in a sheepish manner, his other hand raised in a half-apology as he spoke. "Temari! Great to see you here! I wasn't trying to ditch out on you! No, I just, uhh…" The blonde was grasping at straws as he began to break down, doing all he could not to irritate the girl in front of him who had a reputation for nailing people with her heavy metal battle fan. "I just didn't want to wake you! 'Cause you know, it's pretty early and I figured you'd rather sleep?" Naruto let out a mental sigh as he stammered his excuse out, it seemed to be working as he noticed the girl's eyes begin to soften.

Meanwhile, the trio that was Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai all stood by and watched with varying emotions to the whole thing ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. The pale faced and budding artist Sai was merely concerned with how long this conversation was going to take, and how much it would affect the groups travel plans, while Sakura was thinking about how cute the two would look as a couple, you know, girl stuff. Sasuke would have smirked and made a snide comment about it, or cracked a joke at the antics of the two blondes before him, had the young Haruno woman next to him not 'gently' elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

"Why don't you two go get a room, and we'll leave in the morning!" Both Jounin's head snapped around so fast it made Naruto's modified Hiraishin look slow, a blush already heatedly formed on both the man and woman as they glared daggers at the pinkette of the modified Team Seven. Sakura only let out a laugh and stuck out her tongue, and even Sasuke was holding in a chuckle, while Sai barely had cracked a smile. Naruto returned his attention, after a brief moment, to the woman in front of him, the blush only just barely leaving Temari's face. He opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by the very woman herself, stepping close to him and placing a single finger across his parted lips.

"Stop. I'm going to talk for a minute, and you're going to listen, alright?" At the male shinobi's brief nod, Temari lowered her hand, watching in satisfaction as Naruto's mouth remained closed. She had him right where she wanted him, and only now that the blonde had him there, she didn't quite know what she wanted to say, so she took a page out of her counterparts book and just went with her instinct, speaking softly, but strongly enough that her voice only slightly carried. "Naruto… Thank you. For evert" It was Temari's turn to be cut off as Naruto began speaking, slightly over her, one of his hands laid delicately on her shoulder.

"You don't have to say a word." At this, the male shinobi dragged his hand lightly from her shoulder to the woman's cheek, cupping it softly in his right hand, stroking his thumb across it lightly and ever so softly brushing away the tear that was threatening to form in her eye, the teal orbs of the Desert Flower never leaving the azure ones of Konoha's own Demon Fox, their faces only a few inches apart. Temari's lips were parted slightly, and her eyes were nearly half lidden, the light smile on Naruto's face clear as day for her, before she was pulled to her senses as the man let go of her, turning on his heel and heading back towards his team, barking out the order to move out as he did so.

Naruto spared a single, solitary glance over his shoulder at the dusty blonde, before giving a small nod, speaking just loudly enough for her to hear him over the wind, before he jumped off to rejoin his team. "Look out for Gaara, for me. He needs his family, now more than ever." Noticing his words had been heard, the blonde channeled chakra to his legs, leaping across the sand dunes, and taking only mere seconds to rejoin and then lead his team. The team had only been moving for a few minutes before the teasing began, and the leader of Team Seven did his best to take it in stride, enjoying the small moments of peace between missions, before Sakura spoke up, asking a question this time.

"Naruto, what was she thanking you for? It didn't sound like it was about the treaty at all." The pinkette questioned, genuinely curious as to an insight into the man that while was her own age, had seen and experienced so much more than the Chunin. The blonde shinobi merely glanced over to her briefly, giving a soft, yet sad smile as he did so, the woman not missing the small twinkle in his eye that passed, however briefly as he spoke, before turning his head back towards the horizon, and their home, as his thoughts returned to the night before in Suna.

"I helped her brother come home."

* * *

 _Flashback- The Night Before_

 _It was dark in Sunagakure no Sato, the evening light barely piercing the darkness of the void that is night, a soft breeze fluttering through the hot and dry desert air, as the couple walked down the street. Naruto and Temari were on the back end of their 'not-a-date', and ever the gentleman, the shinobi of Konoha was currently walking the blonde woman home. The sandy blonde was currently walking next to him, her arm wrapped around his as the two laughed, Naruto telling one of the many stories that he had from his travels across the elemental nations. It wasn't long before the two came to the large gates the denoted the home of the Kazekage and his children._

 _The two stood in front of the woman's home, briefly talking quietly amongst themselves, Temari moving to stand in front of her blonde counterpart, gripping her hands together behind her back. It was odd, but if the woman was honest with herself, she had had an amazing time tonight with Naruto, even if it had been her idea in the first place, and built as an apology more than anything else. The teal-eyed woman actually had been quite upset that she had tried to extort the blonde when he first set foot in the village, especially when he had more or less saved her brother, and though he had no obligation to, defended her village from an enemy threat._

 _The Jounin of Suna was pulled from her thoughts by the proximity that had closed between the two, almost unconsciously in the cool night air. They were mere inches apart now, and still talking rather happily to each other, and the girl was honestly having the time of her life, it had been so long since she had been looked at as anything other than a member of the military, a combatant, and though this evening had started out as a way to make amends, she was surprised to find that the Jounin from Konoha was more akin to treat her as a woman, than as a fighter. A fact which she certainly was enjoying._

 _Blue eyes met teal once more that night, but before anything more could happen between the two, a feeling of rage, bloodlust, and…confusion fell across the two. Naruto's eyes merely narrowed, while Temari's widened, she would have recognized the aura that was washing over her anywhere. After all, she'd lived in fear of it every day for the last twenty years. Not a lot could shake her, she was a very experienced Jounin, after all, and had faced her fair share of opponents, but this feeling, it shook her to the core, and no matter how much she tried, it would never leave her. Her thoughts of such matters were broken, but this time by the blonde in front of her, speaking softly, yet calmly and full of authority and confidence, not an inch of fear in the younger man's voice._

" _Temari, I had a wonderful time tonight, but unfortunately it seems we're going to have to cut this a little short. Please go inside, and I'll see you later, ok? There's someone here I need to talk to." And just like that, he was gone, the chest she had had her hands resting against vanishing in a flash of dull blue, reappearing on the rooftop adjacent to the one she was at. Temari spared him and the figure he was standing across from a small glance, before she heeded the advice of the blonde shinobi, turning and walking inside of her home, doing her best to quell her fear._

 _With Naruto, things were quite different from the lighthearted way that they'd been not a few minutes prior. The Konoha Jounin stood on one edge of the roof, clad in moonlight, the beams gracing his sun-kissed skin glowing faintly under the moon's rays. Across from his stood the stoic and cross-armed figure of the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi, Sabaku no Gaara. Naruto mimicked him, and the two both took a few steps forward, now standing only a single yard apart, green, pupil lacking eyes staring into the fierce cobalt of his own, orbs that had faced down countless enemies and come out on top._

" _Gaara, fancy meeting you here." The blonde began, watching intently as the redhead raised one of his nonexistent eyebrows, opting now to merely listen to the blonde Jounin from Konoha who had bested him, killing both of his assailants, before aiding in tearing him down from his full Bijuu form, returning his humanity. "What's with the death glare? I was having a good time with Temari."_

" _Why do you fight, Uzumaki?" The redhead began, speaking softly, his voice monotone as he talked, his eyes never leaving those of the blonde. "I know you contain within you the Kyuubi, I can sense it, as can Shukaku. Yet, you did not use its power in the fight, even when I used the full strength of my abilities. Do you fight for yourself, as I do? Proving your existence through erasing others from it? Through their pain, through their death?" The man's voice rose as he spoke, his tone lingering in the air._

 _Naruto gazed at the man, and for a moment, his eyes softened, seeing a bit of himself in the redhead, before he had been found and taken in by Jiraiya._ " _It's almost unbearable, isn't it, the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them." At this, the blondes eyes narrowed, and he looked back up from the ground to lock eyes with those of Gaara's, before his gaze hardened and he continued. "And I will defend them with my life, from anyone and everyone, I'll never give up. I will face you, your father, all of Suna, even Kami himself if they threaten my loved ones."_

 _Again, his gaze softened, but he never broke eye contact, and taking a step forward, Naruto did something that hadn't happened to Gaara in years. The blonde shinobi reached out, and laid his hand on the redhead's shoulder, squeezing it softly as he spoke, no sand coming to remove his arm. "They saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me as who I am. They're my friends, and god dammit if they're not the only thing I have left._ " _The blonde let a soft smile grace his features, as he lowered his arm, already able to see the gears turning behind the man's head._

" _I'm not saying it's easy, Gaara, because it isn't. There's been days where I break, nights where I fall, but when you put yourself on the line for someone, they put themselves on that line for you. Yesterday, when we fought the Akatsuki, I put myself on that line for you, because you and me?" Here, Naruto paused, before he slowly back away from the redhead, turning his back of the Suna Nin before he whispered over his shoulder, so quiet Gaara himself could barely hear him, his voice a hoarse whimper on the wind. "We're the same."_

 _And with that, the blonde vanished for the second time that night in a flash of blue, leaving the redheaded Jinchuriki alone to ponder his thoughts, lowering his head to look at his palm for the first time in a long time able to see past the blood that had stained it, the ravings of the beast in his mind oddly quiet tonight. The redhead looked up to the moon, it the last crescent of is waning, muttering softly to himself before disappearing as the wind blew the sand that had been his form away. "Fighting… for others…"_

 _Later that night, the moon that had watched so many events unfold in the last couple days would find Temari, sitting in the common area of her home, attempting to read a scroll, unable to sleep from the series of events after her 'not-a-date' with the blonde shinobi, Naruto. It would watch as the woman's youngest brother came into the room, startling her, before it walked over to sit next to her, speaking softly, before the girl teared up, and then, unable to hold it back any longer, began crying unashamedly. It would continue to watch as the redheaded Jinchuriki, depraved of human contact for so long, slowly and cautiously wrapped his sister in an uncertain hug._

 _It would watch, as a blonde haired man watched the two from the rooftop of a building on the opposite end of the street, smiling softly to himself as he watched the spectacle unfold, before vanishing in a small puff of smoke, signature of a Kage Bunshin. And finally, the moon would hear the final two words that the menace of Suna had spoken to his crying dusty-blonde older sister for the night, as she finally let out all of her pent up emotion for the younger boy._

" _I'm sorry."_

 _End Flashback- The Night Before_

* * *

"…And after that, our return trip was safe an uneventful, Team Seven made good time and reports that the envoy to Sunagakure was successful." Naruto finished, him and the modified Team Seven standing at attention before their Hokage, the silver haired cyclops himself idly looking through the report provided by the blonde, the group having arrived earlier that morning, immediately going to their leader to report their finished endeavor. The Godaime absentmindedly reached his hand behind his head, scratching it softly as he looked through it once more.

The blonde shinobi in his office seemed to attract trouble and mishap wherever he went, these days, and it was only through pure skill and dumb luck that he continued to come out on top. Kakashi sighed, this was supposed to be an easy and uneventful mission, merely securing the partnership of another village, and here the man had encountered not just one, but two S-Ranked criminals, of the very organization they soon be hunting. And then, as if the situation couldn't have gotten worse, the Jinchuriki he was supposed to protect turned on him, yet the man had still managed to come through relatively unharmed.

The last member of the Hatake clan opened his eye briefly, before waving his hand and dismissing the ninja from the room, aside from his sensei's son, needing to ask him a few questions. The two men locked eyes, the blonde shinobi crossing his arms over his chest as he moved forward to stand center stage on the Hokage's desk. "So, what do you think?" The newest Kage of Konoha was a smart man, and as such, he knew that sometimes the best intelligence was off of the hunches of others, especially those that he trusted enough to lead missions in the field. A hunch was a hunch, and in the world of ever evolving combat and intense battle, one's instincts was the only thing he could trust.

The Jounin in the room raised his eyebrow slightly, never breaking eye contact with his superior as he spoke, choosing his words carefully, yet speaking with confidence as he did so. "What do I think? I think that we're definitely on Akatsuki's radar, now. When I began fighting the two men, I felt a third signature some distance off, watching us, but couldn't make it out clearly in the fight. They also know that I hold the Kyuubi, though it appears that they don't yet know I can't use its power." Naruto paused, bringing one of his hands to stroke his chin slowly while he was in thought, absentmindedly making a mental note to shave, he had grown some scruff over the last couple days, before he regained his thoughts and as he spoke again.

"The two I encountered in Suna, Hidan and Kakuzu, they looked surprised to see me, meaning that they didn't know I was going to Suna, so their intelligence was lacking before, though now that I have killed three of them they are sure to watch more carefully." The man lowed his hand, raised his head to make contact with the silver haired Hokage behind his desk, before speaking the final piece of information that had gone through his mind over the last few days. "But, it's only a matter of time before they send someone after the Nine-Tails. Sooner or later, they're going to be coming for me."

The silver haired Hokage narrowed his single, visible eye as he contemplated what the blonde had said, having come to much the same conclusion himself. It wasn't exactly good news to hear, that a group of elite shinobi were going to be coming for one of your villages best ninja, Jinchuriki or no Jinchuriki. It also made the news that he was about to give the dull blonde worse, especially combining it with what was already known. He cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts before he began briefing the blonde on what he knew, and what little information the Toad Sage himself had gathered.

"Yes, and it doesn't bode well for you, for us, or for the rest of the Jinchuriki." Here the man stole himself a brief moment, watching and sizing up the young man in front of him, he was truly beginning to look the part of his father, the blonde hair and serious demeanor notwithstanding. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, the Last Hatake began speaking once more, the lines on his brow deepening, had they been visible behind his Hitai-Ite. "While you were on your mission in Sunagakure, Jiraiya had his own run-in with the Akatsuki, and before you ask, yes he is alright. No combat ensued, as Jiraiya was able to effectively stall them until backup arrived, but the two members still got away."

Kakashi and Naruto's eye contact had never been clearer as the younger man's eyes narrowed at the newest revelation, watching his leader intently, yet never speaking, keeping his thoughts directed inwards as the man continued to speak. "The two members he encountered were both quite powerful in their own right, and I'm sure you would recognize them anywhere. The first, was Hoshigaki Kisame, S-Ranked missing-nin from Kiri and former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and his partner… His partner was Uchiha Itachi. They were looking for you." The silver haired Kage stopped here, not even needing to go into the profile that he had of the man, Naruto already knowing everything he needed to from his time in ANBU.

The Last Uzumaki closed his eyes as his head lowered, on one hand, both of these opponents were quite powerful in their own right, but at the same time, now he knew who was coming after him, and that gave him time to come up with plans for defeating them, if and when they should come after him. It was more of an advantage than anything else, as the organization was going to be coming for him eventually, that much was certain because of his tenant, but with the proper intelligence he could build a counter for them, and plan around their abilities. For example, now that he knew Kisame was one of the people targeting him, he could create seals that would work against the man's water Ninjutsu, and as for Itachi… That battle would be hard fought and close, no matter how he prepared himself, the man was something of a legend within the ANBU Corps.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, the blonde raised his head, coming into contact with his Hokage as he spoke once more. "If you'll excuse me then Hokage-Sama, I have some preparations to make, now that my enemies are known. If you have nothing else for me?" The older man simply nodded, already pulling out his favored small orange book as he leaned back in the chair, the blonde man having already disappeared in a small yet distinct flash of blue before he had even been fully waved off. Kakashi sighed softly to himself, being the Hokage was boring sometimes, but he had a feeling it was going to pick up soon, and at least he had the blonde and Jiraiya to help take some of the weight off his shoulders.

Hell, the Uzumaki Heir was doing a great job both as a ninja and as a leader, and Kami knew that he was stronger than the current Hokage, perhaps when all this was said and done he'd pass the village onto the younger man, who knew? But Kakashi's mind had already moved on from his musings, his attention now completely focused on the scene with Yuei and Tsuki in the bathhouse after a long and stressful day of work, his sing visible eye tilted upward in a mischievous and lecherous grin as he read.

It was the little things in life that one appreciates the most.

* * *

" _Come on Boss! Let's go already!"_

 _The words came from Konohamaru, the small boy running out ahead of him as they moved through the forest, the two were the epitome of a typical older and younger brother, out playing in the wilderness, the training ground near Konoha's Ninja Academy. The two boys were currently looking for their young friends, Udon and Moegi, who were hiding and waiting to 'ambush' them in the game they were playing, and so far, the two had done a pretty good job of it. Blue eyes scanned the wilderness, and the blonde couldn't help but to let out a chuckle as the young child in front of him tripped up of his scarf, falling into the ground and landing flat on his face._

 _Naruto moved to the young boy, a smile on his face as helped him up, the younger one smiling as well as he did so, he always had a good time with his pseudo older brother when they went out. Konohamaru respected the blonde deeply, and had even taken to wearing the goggles that the Jounin himself used to wear when he was a smaller child, before he had earned his Hitai-Ite. The two didn't have a chance to talk any more though, for as soon as the Sarutobi was back on his feet, two figures burst from the shadows of either side, screaming a battle cry as they impacted with the blonde and brunette, sending them all into a pile on the ground._

The Last Uzumaki couldn't hold it in anymore, he began laughing, soon joined in by the laughter and joyous cries of the three children tangled up with him, the two would-be attackers revealed to be Udon and Moegi, having sprung their trap on the other two. But then, all too suddenly, the laughter stopped, and the girl that was in his arms became cold, he felt something dripping along his arms and legs, pooling into his lap, the blondes own laughter dying off rather quickly. The stanch of copper filled the air, and for some reason, Naruto had the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach, right before he looked down, his mouth opening into a silent scream at what he found.

 _In his now bloodstained arms was the lifeless body of Moegi, her mouth open in a shriek of death that never came, both of her eyes black and without light, wounds littering her body from head to toe. Naruto tore his head away from her, and amid the screams of 'Boss!' he saw the forms of Konohamaru and Udon, clutching each other for support, the latter missing limbs, the former with a wound in his belly so wide and open he could see through it. They were calling out to him, looking him dead in the eye as they begged him, pleaded with him for help, but the blonde shinobi, winner of battle after battle, capable of surmounting impassible odds, couldn't move his body, couldn't look away as his pseudo-siblings bled to death, more and more wounds appearing on their bodies as they called out desperately to him in death._

 _Their screams haunted him as he clutched the body in his arms, still painfully aware of the blood from the girl seeping into his clothes, past the fabric now and directly onto his skin washing over it in a cascade of crimson flow. The two boys had reached him, both of their cold, dead hands gripping onto his body in a vice, he was unable to shake them off, their sorrow and hurt drowning him completely. And then, just like someone had flipped a light switch, it stopped, all of it, gone. Moegi lying in his arms, asking him over and over to save her, gone. Konohamaru and Udon, desperately calling out to their friend and mentor, pleading for help, vanished._

 _And then he heard it, and it made the blondes heart sink to a low it hadn't been very many times in his life, a low that was reserved for only few dire occasions, as the sweet, beautiful melody assaulted his ears. It started out soft and subtle, barely reaching his ears over the silence of the forest, before it became louder, and louder, and louder, until it was a full on assault on his ears that would have left them bleeding, had they been able to from the attack. The melody itself was one he would recognize anywhere, he had come home to it being played several times and on more than one occasion had listened to the musician behind it play it in joy. But now, it terrified him to no end._

 _Finding himself no able to move, Naruto slowly turned himself around, tears threatening to form in his eyes as he moved, his fist clenched as he did so, praying to every god he knew and hoping against hope that it wasn't who he_ knew _it to be. And sure enough, when he finished turning and rose his head, opening his eyes in a mortified panic, he laid his eyes upon her for the first time in over a year. She hadn't changed at all, wearing the exact same thing that she had been when they attacked Otogakure, nothing about her had changed, the woman he had once loved was now standing before him, merely a few yards away._

 _She wore the now standardized black combat sandals, choosing to keep her feet bare, leaving only a small amount of bandages wrapping her ankles for a small amount of support. Moving up past her long slender legs was a pair of short, and tight black spandex shorts, with a brown combat skirt that had a slit up the center over it, stopping at her mid-thigh over it. The skirt was held up by a thin combat styled black belt that had been custom made, and contained a special sheathe for her combat flute, in addition to the normal pouches for her shuriken and kunai. Her upper body was clothed in a black compression shirt on underneath a gray, slightly looser fitting shirt, the sleeves stopping just under her elbows. Her hair was held back by the Konoha Hitai-Ite that she proudly wore on her forehead, a small tuft of hair falling down between her eyes, the rest of her gorgeous red hair falling around behind her on her shoulders._

 _There was one addition to the redhead, one that Naruto now found himself unable to tear his eyes away from, no matter how hard he tried- The gaping hole that was in the woman's left breast, directly where her heart should have been. Naruto made no move to hide it now, not that he could as his ability to move was once again stolen from him, but he cried. He balled, his tears flowing out and his voice calling out her name in a hoarse whisper that he himself couldn't even here. He screamed out her name, called to her, anything and everything he could think of, but he was powerless, his voice never reaching the girl over the sound of her flute and his own helplessness. Than man who had killed all who dared oppose his village in the name of its defense, was powerless._

 _Naruto watched as the blood from her heart wound oozed out from the hole in her chest, so large and deep he could visibly see the void of nothingness behind her, the crimson liquid leaking out and staining her clothing, as Tayuya opened her eyes, and gave him a smile, lowering the flute from her mouth as she walked towards him. Her smile was different though, it wasn't the loving one that he got when he had held her in his arms, or the smirk he'd receive when he'd tease her about something, or even the laughing half smile he'd see when she was still half asleep and didn't even know it. This was a malicious grin, full of anger, resentment, and wrath._

 _The woman walked close to him, standing mere inches from the powerless blonde, the now fallen and broken hero of the Leaf, and he was forced to look into her eyes. Gone were the loving chocolate orbs he had fallen in love with, and in their place were black, pupil-less ones that were filled to the brim with madness. Tayuya leaned in close to the blonde, the silence deafening as she moved her lips close to his ear, so close he could feel her cold breath falling across his neck, biting like icy daggers as she spoke._

" _You didn't save me, Naruto. You let me die."_

* * *

The Last Uzumaki awoke with a frightening start, sitting up in his bed like a rocket, screaming out the name of his departed lover with hoarse vocal cords. His pupils were dilated, so much so that the fierce cobalt of his eyes was barely visible in the moonlight that pierced the darkness. The man's hands clenched tightly, his knuckles white and blood slowly dripping from his now cut palms. His usually vibrant blonde hair was disheveled and messy, a light sheen of sweat covering his entire body. The man's scream out for Tayuya quickly became just that, nothing but a scream itself, before it finally died off, the blonde man finally coming to his senses, realizing that he was still only in his house, sleeping in his bed, and that the recent events that were so clear in his mind were only a dream.

Naruto slowly forced himself to relax, lessening the tension that had stricken his entire body, breathing as heavy as he would normally do during a tough fight, his entire body poised to deliver or take a blow. He forced himself back down to the bed, noticing angrily that he had bled over the sheets in his dream-induced rage, he'd have to buy more to replace them. He laid there for a few minutes, before he finally grunted to himself in acknowledgement, pulling himself out of the bed, and then walking towards the door, grabbing clothing as he went. By the time he reached the front door to his house, he was completely dressed, wearing his usually ninja garb, but tonight, without any of his weapons, and a long red shirt in place of his usually dark green sleeveless one.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination, not the memorial stone like he had originally planned, but tonight coming to rest on the top of the Hokage Monument, more specifically on top of the Yondaime, his father's head. He stood there for a while, watching the light snow that began to dust the ground. Winter was in season in Konoha, and though it didn't snow much, it was still magical to watch the small flakes flutter to the ground, even if they did melt as soon as they came in contact with it, leaving no trace of their existence. The blonde shinobi absentmindedly reached into his pocket, and with still shaking hands he pulled a pack of cigarettes out, grabbing one and forcing it into his mouth, lighting it with a small and controlled fire jutsu in between the tips of his fingers.

Smoking was a habit, a bad habit that he had taken up recently after one of his very frequent nightmares. It helped him take the edge off, and the smell of the tobacco helped bring him back to reality, to the here and now, and he finally understood why the old Sandaime had smoked as well, after witnessing so much in his long and battle scared life. The Jounin took a long drag of the cigarette, allowing the smoke to build in his mouth and in his lungs, getting the maximum effect from the burning substance, before he slowly and carefully exhaled, in a calm and controlled manner, noting that his hands had finally stopped moving, relaxing himself slightly.

He'd been having these dreams for months, now. At least four times a week he was burdened with them, and while usually he was able to control himself, there were times when he was unable to pull himself from the dream before it got too rough, never able to fall asleep directly after. Tayuya had been able to help quell the nightmares he got from the war, and especially the ones he had about Konohamaru and his friends, but now she was gone, and the blonde was alone. He could fight any battle, climb any mountain, swim any river, but against his own person demons, Naruto was powerless. He was completely unable to fight against himself.

For all he did, for all he had done, the blonde had still failed. He had _promised_ to protect Konohamaru, and Udon and Moegi, and they had all died. He had _promised_ to protect Tayuya with his life, and she was killed before his very eyes. He had _promised_ every ninja under his command that he would bring them home to their families alive and well, and then watched as they died under his charge. He had _promised_ Ebisu that he would not make a fool out of the man's Genin team, and told him to call on him if he ever needed help, but now he too lie dead, the blonde shinobi being the one to find him. He had _promised_ so much, and he failed beyond all belief.

Naruto took another drag off of his cigarette, before he threw it to the ground in anger after noticing that it had run dry, pulling another one from his pack an lighting it as well, puffing on it in the midnight air as he stood atop his father's head, wanting desperately to talk to the man, but no words coming to his mouth. Hoping beyond hope for the familiar, yet alien touch of a mother's embrace, and knowing it would never come. For all the friends that Uzumaki Naruto had in the world, for the honorary title of 'Godfather' that was bestowed upon the great Toad Sage himself, and for the legendary medic that was becoming like a long lost grandmother to him, Naruto had never felt more alone, more isolated, than he did when he returned from the last battle of the war, the lifeless body of his love in his arms.

The Last Uzumaki sucked the final dregs of the tobacco into his mouth, before blowing it out angrily, never noticing, nor caring about the shining star that seemed to sparkle in an almost remorseful manner, falling directly above the blonde shinobi, and watching over him for the remainder of the night, a guardian angel, hiding in the night.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Well, that's it for another chapter. I'm doing my best to showcase the clear issues that Naruto is struggling with, and though I've never really written before, I think I am doing a decent job of it, Just to clarify, these problems aren't going to be something that disappears overnight, PTSD is a full-time struggle, and it's hard every step of the way. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	20. Float like a Butterfly

**Damn! Over 30K hits! This story is really picking up, and that's awesome guys. When I first started writing I never thought that something I wrote would be read, and (for the most part) enjoyed. I'm really glad the story seems to be making waves, as I've still got a ways to go before this one is finished. And on that note, we're already on the 20** **th** **Chapter! Just under a month of total writing and we're already getting close to 150K words! You guys are the best. Anyways, onto the 20** **th** **Installment!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 **Float like a Butterfly**

* * *

It had been just under a month since Team Naruto had returned from their mission to Sunagakure, and now they were out again, making a very similar run, but this time to a different village, this time their destination being Konoha's neighbors to the northeast, the military village hidden in the clouds themselves, Kumogakure. The nation was quite easily the most militarized, having never demilitarized from any of the numerous conflicts that they had been involved in, a process created and never changed by one of the village's older and past Raikage. This, involved with the storied and bloody past between the two villages, would make this an interesting endeavor, no doubt.

Kumogakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the Shodai Raikage. Shortly after the formation of their villages, the Shodai Hokage sold tailed beasts to Kumo as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages, though it would ultimately fail. The Niidaime Raikage and Niidaime Hokage had later tried to formally agree to peace between their villages, but the ceremony was interrupted by the Gold and Silver Brothers and the Hokage was nearly killed during the attack. Konoha and Kumo ended up on opposing sides during the First Shinobi World War because of this, with Kumo's Kinkaku Force cornering and killing the Niidaime Hokage. Decades later, during the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo and Konoha would fight again, often with 'A' on Kumo's side and Namikaze Minato mirroring him of Konoha's. Following the death of the Sandaime Raikage in a battle against ten-thousand opposing shinobi, 'A' succeeded him as the Yondaime.

Eventually, a peace treaty was formed between all of the hidden villages that required them to reduce the sizes of their forces during times of peace, a practice that Kumo not-so-secretly doesn't partake in. Kumo's efforts to amass power often entail stealing secrets and kidnapping shinobi from other villages, and they had tried many times to do just that against Konoha in particular. Several years before the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo shinobi kidnapped Uzumaki Kushina in order to study her unique chakra, but were foiled by Konoha' prodigal son, Minato, who had tracked her down using the strands of her hair.

A few years after the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo, in an apparent effort to establish peace, sent one of its head Ninja to Konoha to sign a peace treaty, though it was discovered that it was in reality a cover for an attempt to acquire the Byakugan Kekkai Genkai by kidnapping Hyuuga Hinata . When the negotiator was killed by Hyuuga Hiashi in the attempt, the reigning Raikage still tried to obtain the Byakugan by threatening war unless Hiashi's body was turned over to make up for the Ninja's death. In what would be called the Hyuuga Affair, Hiashi's twin was given to Kumo instead, his Byakugan sealed in his death. Yet, the village in the land of lightning still lusted for power.

There was one other method that the village used to secure power though, and that was the tailed beasts themselves. In the early days of the village, before buying the Nibi and Hachibi from Konoha, Kumo sent the famed and elite Gold and Silver Brothers to capture the Kyuubi, a task at which they ultimately failed. Later, with the two purchased Bijuu in its possession, the village struggled to harness the beasts' power in Jinchuriki, the men and women who held them were unable gain control of the beasts and would eventually lose control, causing a rampage through the village. However, recent intelligence from the land of lightning suggested that its two newest Jinchuriki for the Nibi and Hachibi were able to successfully control their beasts, leaving both highly valued and appreciated by the village and its denizens, especially the ninja themselves.

All of these thoughts screamed through Naruto's head as he and his team approached the village, having been moving for a few days now, the village hidden in the clouds finally in sight after their long journey. It had taken the modified Team Seven a short two days to reach the border that Fire Country shared with the Land of Hot Water, coming close to the border of what remained of Otogakure. After that, it had taken a single day to pass through the area and only one more day after that before they had passed completely through Frost Country, bringing them to the Land of Lightning, where a mere three days later the four-man cell arrived at the large and imposing gates of Kumogakure no Sato.

In all honesty, it wasn't that different from the large gates that fell around the border of Konoha, so the blonde shinobi wasn't all that surprised at the sight, nor was he particular intimidated by it, and if the members of his team were fazed by it, none of them showed it, all of them keeping the stone cold and uninhibited faces that they were ordered to, Kumo shinobi respected strength above all else, both mental and physical power equally important to the war-ready nation. This envoy was an important one for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which Akatsuki threat that was beginning to plague the Elemental Nations.

No, this trip would accomplish so much more than just a mere alliance against a common threat, if he was able to successfully pull it off, that is. Unfortunately, this mission would be relying almost solely on his skills as a diplomat, and while the blonde shinobi of Konoha was becoming famed for his ability to reason with and negotiate with people, he himself would rather have just fought the Raikage, preferring to rely on his wits and instincts, rather than dodge around the messy world of politics. But, it wasn't his choice, and orders were orders, so he would comply with them to the best of his ability, his orders for this mission being to secure this alliance, but reasonably.

This envoy to Kumo would mark the first time since the days of his father that a Konoha shinobi, or even a team of them, had come into contact with those from Cloud in a non-hostile environment. It would be the first time in nearly twenty years that a Leaf-Nin had even stepped foot inside the militarized city, and the presence of who the Leaf was sending wasn't to be forgotten, either. The team consisted of Uzumaki Naruto, who would do the main negotiating with the Raikage, having been given the full authority from his own Hokage. He was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, a fact which was quickly being thrown around the elemental nations, as was his heritage and relation to previous Hokage's, the blonde was a very powerful shinobi in his own right, and many people were pegging him as the next Hokage to take over the mantle, after Hatake Kakashi.

The next key player was the survivor, Uchiha Sasuke, the last loyal member of his clan, and wielder of a fully matured three tomoe Sharingan. The fair skinned man was quite the powerful shinobi in his own right, and given Kumo's history with trying to steal Doujutsu, his presence on the team was shown as a measure of trust and good faith to the differing nations, though the man could easily take care of himself on his own if a fight broke out. Next on the list was Haruno Sakura, apprentice to the legendary medic-nin Senju Tsunade herself, the woman possessing every ounce of monstrous strength her mentor possessed, she was quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with as well, though only a Chunin.

The final member of the team rounded out was the stoic and emotionally impaired and pale skinned Sai, former member of Danzo's ROOT, and now a Tokubetsu Jounin of Konoha's regular ninja forces. The man specialized in recon and assassination, though his skills could easily be transferred to the support combat element role that he had filled when the team had been led by Kakashi. It always seemed to work out for the group of four, even after Naruto had filled the role of team leader; Sasuke would be the team's close to mid ranger fighter, his Ninjutsu arsenal and Sharingan giving him a combat advantage over most enemies, while Sai provided mid-range support, his ink Ninjutsu becoming invaluable in this aspect, while Sakura ran long range interference and medical support, the team leader of either Kakashi or Naruto falling in between all three roles and reacting accordingly to the situation.

All in all, the team itself was a message, one of faith that the current administration wouldn't attempt anything against them, and also one that portrayed the power of Konohagakure, one that showed the strength of the village, both individually and as a team. The modified Team Seven had trained together multiple times, and during the recent war that the Hidden Leaf had been in, the four had worked closely with each other, and in anyone's opinion they were a force to be reckoned with, both individually and especially when working in tandem. All of this thought went into the Godaime Hokage's mind when he chose this particular team to work with Naruto for this specific political envoy to the village hidden in the clouds.

The blonde shinobi was pulled from his thoughts as he and his team approached the gates of Kumogakure, and began making forced small talk with the two gate guards, once again noting that they bore a remarkable resemblance to Izumo and Kotetsu, had they been dressed in Konoha garb and not the standard attire of Kumo, consisting of a long, grey top which gathered just at the waist to give a sash-like appearance, with a matching colored bottom. Over this they wore white, one-strapped flak jackets and arm guards, as well as matching shin-guards. Both men were watching the Konoha-Nin with hard eyes and suspecting thoughts, though neither one said as much as they admitted the four to their village.

They were met by their escort as soon as they made it through the gates, they were to be monitored the entire time that the mission was going on, and especially while they were guests within the village. Though the team was there under the white flag of a truce and were there for no other reason to strengthen the ties between them, there was still a fair amount of bad blood spilt between the two villages, and the Raikage wasn't going to just let the ninja come and go as they pleased. The team was escorted to a hotel, where they were granted two separate rooms, Sakura nearly dragging Sasuke into a room while the blonde leader of the team laughed and egged it on, before he and Sai turned into their own.

Naruto chuckled lightly to himself as he got acquainted with the small room that he and Sai would be calling home for the next couple of days. The pinkette of the team had the stoic Uchiha wrapped around her finger, even if he didn't know it yet. The two had grown rather close during their time as ninja, and their bond had only strengthened during the war, especially when Sakura had trained under Tsunade and become strong on her own, prompting Sasuke to recognize her, not anymore as a fan girl, but as a ninja. The two had formed a close tie to each other, and it wasn't often that the last loyal Uchiha wasn't seen without his pink haired counterpart. The Last Uzumaki had even heard rumor that the two were secretly seeing each other, and he believed it, though the two had yet to make anything official yet.

The blonde sighed as he leaned back onto the somewhat comfortable bed that had been provided for him, watching as Sai did much the same to the other rack on the opposite side of the room. Yeah, the two were definitely a good fit for each other, Sakura helped to temper Sasuke's thirst for vengeance, which had notably lessened over the years as he matured, and he in turn pushed the girl to better herself in many ways, making her one of the top Chunin of Konoha, and she'd easily make Jounin if she kept it up. Naruto looked over to Sai, giving the man a quick goodnight, and choosing to ignore the several chakra signatures he could feel watching him and his team, they were just doing their jobs, as he closed his eyes and attempted to go to sleep.

His meeting with the Yondaime Raikage, 'A', was the following day, and for some reason he felt he was going to need to be well rested for it.

* * *

The Raikage was a large man, even by the standards of large men. His skin was dark, with an enormously muscular build, his blindingly white hair combed back, a small moustache and goatee gracing his face. His pronounced cheekbones lined his face and tear troughs under ran under his eyes, and a prominent crease was formed permanently across his forehead. He had pointed canines and his top lip also had a darker hue than the bottom one; traits he inherited from his father. Over his bare chest 'A' wore a white haori without a, the traditional Raikage his sitting off to one side on his desk.

Upon each broad shoulder was a black Fuuma Shuriken tattoo and upon his wrists, going up to the top of his forearms he wore large, golden vambraces that were both used for offense and defense. Around his waist was an extremely large golden belt with a boar's face engraved in the center, black pants with torn ends, Kumo-nin shin guards, and shinobi sandals covering his lower body. All of these aspects combined give him the appearance of a professional wrestler, though the man was an expert in the art of Nintaijutsu, an aspect of the Ninja he had created and mastered on his own. This ability helped 'A' become known for his immense physical speed, being able to intercept an opponent before they realize he has approached them, however it was noted that using his Nintaijutsu enhanced his speed even further, enough to create after-images of his bulky frame.

'A' had repeatedly boasted to be the world's fastest shinobi since the death of the Yondaime Hokage, and since he had never faced the young Uzumaki that now stood before him in combat, to him the record still held true. 'A' was reported to have enormous physical strength, which was estimated is just below that of Tsunade herself. There were many feats to prove this, for example, using only a single hand he did numerous things such as: lifting a massive, two-handed barbell; smashing through walls, floors, and even a cliff; severing one of the Eight-Tails' horns and knocking it down to the ground. While possessing powerful and extremely fast punches, the Yondaime Raikage preferred to use wrestling-style moves rather than standard Taijutsu, such as power-bombs, backhanded chops, take-downs, and leg drops.

All of these thoughts passed through Naruto's mind as he stood in the presence of the man, each one staring down the other in thought for several moments before the Last Uzumaki finally broke the silence with a curt and tense, yet respectful 'Raikage-Sama', before he stated his name and purpose for coming to Kumo. The Raikage merely listened to him, and watched as the blonde apparently refused to back down, refusing to be intimidated by the large and powerful man before him. So far, the info that Naruto had been given on the man was spot-on. Everything about him had been accurate, and judging by the way the hulk of a man acted, it would surprise him if the white haired goliath's combat abilities were that of a brawler instead of the finesse associated with a ninja, like the reports told.

"…The most recent encounters happened within mere days of each other, so it has become apparent that the group is very capable of working in tandem with each other. The first encounter was in Sunagakure, with the assailants being the supposed immortal Hidan from Yugakure, and the equally dangerous Kakuzu of Taki, both are now deceased, slain by my hand." Naruto paused at this point in his briefing, having already given the same one he had given to the Kazekage some time ago, only now adding onto his report with the recent deaths of the two Akatsuki members, before he continued, watching the Raikage's reaction the entire time.

"The next contact with the group was in a small town outside of Konoha, Hezukle Dai. The contact was made by Jiraiya the Toad Sage, and the identities of the men were confirmed to be that of Hoshigaki Kisame of Kiri and former member of the Seven Swordsmen, and Uchiha Itachi of Konoha, one of the last two members of the Uchiha clan, both men unfortunately escaped, despite best efforts made on behalf of Leaf shinobi. The Raikage leaned back in his chair, this certainly did open up trains of thoughts for him. Despite his brutish appearance, he was in all actuality a very smart man and quite the critical thinker, and this revelation behind the organization cleared several things up for him, and the occurrences around Kumo of late.

He'd never admit it to the young man in front of him, but the intelligence network in Kumo was severely lacking. He as the Raikage had no idea what the organization that was apparently going by 'Akatsuki' even existed, though he had come to suspect it and was beginning to look into it with the death of the Nibi Jinchuriki, Yugito. He still didn't know how it had happened, but it had. One of the strongest kunoichi in his village had been slain, and not far from the village itself. There were signs of a struggle, of course, and the chakra signatures had been immense, but by the time he and a force of ninja had shown up after tracking the source of the chakra, the battle had been over, and the blonde woman was nowhere in sight. And from what the man in front of his large oak desk had just told him, it was certain that she was dead, the organization wanted the Bijuu, and they had no use for the host.

Instead of sobering up or anything else though, this enraged the man. There was a group of criminals that _dared_ to attack one of _his_ ninja? They would pay. They would pay dearly, and with their lives. The Yondaime Raikage was not a forgiving man, especially of people who killed his men without purpose, especially of the woman that housed the Nibi and bore the weight of the village's defense on her shoulders. The Raikage was fond of his two Jinchuriki, he respected and admired them both, having known them from the time they were all very young. While the container was the 'B' to his 'A' combo and brother in anything but blood, the now deceased Yugito had been something of a close friend, if not even like a little sister to him as they had grown.

'A's decision had already been made, but the blonde shinobi in front of him had no idea of this fact. No, the Raikage and his shinobi would be hunting down the ones responsible for the death of Yugito, the threats that were poised against his brother. But there were a few things he needed to know, before he agreed to an alliance with Konohagakure, and by proxy through their already previously existing alliance, Sunagakure. It would be the first time that the three villages had allied themselves together, and it would be the largest alliance made for a purpose other than war that had ever been made in the history of shinobi. To bury the hatchet that had been borne from the last few generations to this one was no easy task, and no small feat. He had to be sure that Konoha was invested in this, but before he had the chance to voice that particular concern, something hit him.

"Why were Akatsuki in Konoha? You have no Jinchuriki for them to chase after, no reason to be invested in this search? Why does the Leaf care about a matter that doesn't pertain to them?" The Raikage was being unusually calm as he spoke, his voice a low rumble as it escaped his lips, his eyes narrowed on the blonde shinobi in front of him that looked so familiar, so close to a realization that he just couldn't put his finger on, yet. The Last Uzumaki let out a small sigh, he had figured it would come to this, so he may as well let it out, the consequences be damned. It was time that this secret came out, and if it secured the alliance with Kumo, then it was worth it.

"Because I am the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." If the older and far more muscular man was surprised by the revelation, he didn't show it, though on the inside, the gears were turning absurdly fast. It explained so much about the whole endeavor. Konoha was involved because of the threat to one of their ninja! And the boy… he had put two and two together as well. During the Third Shinobi World War, 'A' had fought the soon to be Yondaime Hokage several times, and the man's visage was imprinted into his mind, and the Jounin in his office was more or less a carbon copy of the late Namikaze, who was known to have relations with Uzumaki Kushina. This man's surname was Uzumaki, and that particular clan were known worldwide for their vitality, making them perfect hosts to become Jinchuriki.

Before he was able to talk, Naruto continued in his revelations, he was going to do whatever it took to secure this alliance. "I am the son of Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and Uzumaki Kushina. I am the Godson of the Toad Sage Jiraiya, and grandnephew of the Legendary Medic Senju Tsunade, and I am asking for your help in dealing with this threat, Raikage-Sama. With my request is the full backing of the Leaf. Can we not set aside our differences for such a short time as to deal with the organization that threatens us all?" The Uzumaki's voice was strong and authoritative, yet at the same time it was pleading for help from the man before him. 'A' stood, locking eyes with the young man in his office before uttering a small sentence, only two words as he made his decision, before launching himself out of the window in a loud crash

"Follow me." Naruto sighed briefly, shaking his head before he launched himself out the window after the man. Today was definitely turning out to be interesting.

* * *

It hadn't taken the two shinobi long to reach their destination, for even without using their respective techniques for enhancing their speed, they were both quite fast in their own right. Naruto had asked the man as they moved where they were headed to, and had only gotten a brief grunt, something that sounded like Unraikyo (Valley of Clouds and Lightning). He didn't know the significance of the area, but he could only assume that the Raikage was taking him there for a reason, the man didn't seem the type to mince words when there were other ways of communicating. Eventually though, they arrived at their destination, coming to an abrupt halt in a small valley between two of the largest summits that watched over Kumogakure itself.

In the valley itself were four people moving and training together, two men and two women, all of differing sizes and statures. As the two new arrivals of Naruto and the Raikage landed near them, the four stopped their training almost instantly, sheathing their weapons and approaching the men as they talked amongst themselves. All of them appeared to be around the blonde's own age, with a grace of a year or two in either direction, with the exception of the large man that was oddly reminiscent of the Raikage himself behind them. The Last Uzumaki quickly began sizing them all up, making the guess that the four were a team, or at least had been, with the older man who appeared to be in his early thirties as the sensei.

His eyes were first drawn to the woman that was leading the pack, and he briefly overheard her respond to the name 'Samui', absentmindedly thinking to himself that it was a very befitting name for someone like her, though he was only judging a book by its cover. She was a fair-skinned woman of tall stature and with a very curvaceous figure, an aloof expression on her face that made her seem disinterested, though he knew she was watching his every move like a falcon. Her eyes were a bright azure like his own and straight, blonde hair framed her face in an asymmetrical bob style, the front bangs reaching her shoulders, a cold yet cool smirk gracing her features for a moment. Hers was a very low-cut outfit which displayed her sizeable cleavage, with mesh armor underneath. A short skirt and red hand guards, high boots, and what appeared to be a modified Kumogakure flak jacket that covered only her stomach, similar to a girdle adorned the rest of her slim figure. She also had a tanto strapped horizontally to her lower back, within easy reach.

Naruto pulled his eyes from his fellow blonde, quickly moving them over to the other female of the group, and sizing her up as well, giving her a brief yet through once-over. She was a dark-skinned kunoichi with long spiky red hair and amber eyes. While the woman wasn't quite flat-chested, her partner Samui definitely had her beat in that department, and by a vast margin at that. The woman wore a long, short-sleeved dress with frilly edges complete with the Kumo flak jacket, with two simple yellow earrings sparkling in her ears. Fishnet stockings and thigh-high boots with white soles covered her slender legs, and with a Hitai-Ite which she wore as a bandanna, she managed to look both cute and fearsome, though the second attribute was more attributed to the long katana she wore on her back, and he heard the young man next to her briefly call her 'Karui'.

Speaking of the man, the Uzumaki heir turned his gaze upon him, briefly running over the man's body and taking it in, committing it to memory like the others. The man was called 'Omoi', he picked up in the same manner as the others as they moved towards him, a dark-skinned Nin with short, spiky, white hair and dark eyes accentuated with eyelashes that curved upwards from the corners. He was dressed in a dark outfit consisting of an overlong shirt with a hood that was thrown over his back, with red bandage hand guards, white shin guards, and a black Hitai-Ite along with the standard Kumo flak jacket. The young man had a thoughtful expression on his face, as though in deep contemplation. Between the katana he carried on his back and the lollipop he had in his mouth, Omoi looked like quite an interesting character to be sure.

The last member of the group needed no introduction, Naruto knew him from the bingo book and other intelligence that the Leaf had gathered over the years in an instant. The large man had dark skin, once more similar to all the people assembled in the valley apart from himself and Samui, and a very muscular build the same as his adoptive brother. His hair was a stark white, in contrast to his skin, with a matching goatee. On his right shoulder, the tattoo of the kanji for "iron" could easily be made out, its significance relating to the Iron Armor Seal that was used to seal the Hachibi into him, and on his left cheek, he had a tattoo of a bull's horn. His top lip was of a slightly darker hue than his bottom one, giving him a face that was close, but different to his pseudo-brothers.

The man wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white Hitai-Ite that covered his forehead like a bandanna. He also proudly wore his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, with a long, red rope belt tied around his waist. The standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, with a white scarf around his neck covered up the rest of his body, giving him the muscular appearance that every cloud shinobi wanted to cultivate. Upon his back in the most oddly shaped scabbard the blonde had ever seen, were seven short swords that he'd know anywhere, most Cloud-Nin used them at some point or another- the 'Chō Biburāto Raitontō (Super Vibrato Lightning Blades)'. The man was the 'B' to his Raikage's 'A', the one and only Jinchuriki and true master of the Hachibi, Killer Bee.

The three younger people quickly stepped off to the side after a brief look from their leader, already feeling within themselves that something big was going to happen, and knowing that whatever it was, they would not want to be caught in the middle of it. Happenings with this Raikage and his 'Brother' usually seemed to get quite… explosive. It sure did keep things interesting, though. 'A' met Bee in a brief meeting, with Naruto off to the side and watched as the men fist bumped, a grin on each of their faces, before the Uzumaki heard the voice of the Hachibi Jinchuriki for the first time, the man seemingly picking up on something from his brother from the mere fist bump.

"You sure, _Bro_? All I know is that I'll jack up his _Flow_!" 'A' merely nodded, and everyone in the clearing watched in a mixture of awe, annoyance, and disbelief as the man raised one of his heavily muscled arms into the air, his index and pinky fingers raised while the rest remained in a fist, before he let out an obnoxious 'Wheeeee!' noise that culminated in a scream. After watching the odd spectacle, 'A' turned his head towards the only blonde man in the clearing, chuckling softly to himself at the young man's reaction to Bee's antics. As the scream died down, he spoke briefly and gruffly, giving the blonde the only instructions that he would get for the coming climax.

"Show me the mettle of Konohagakure. Prove to me you will be as invested in this as Kumo, and then we'll talk." And with that, the Raikage turned to walk back to the area that was populated by Omoi, Samui, and Karui, moving to stand adjacent to them, the group shielded by a small outcropping of rock that would be a marginal defense in the hardest fight that was to ever come to the valley. Back with Naruto, the Jounin of Konoha had watched the large hulk of a man turn his back on him, walking away. He briefly opened his mouth in protest, before he closed it again, the man wanted to test his mettle? _Fine._ He'd partake in this fight, but the Kami-forsaken Raikage better agree to this alliance. He wasn't in the business of fighting for others amusement, even if all they knew or respected was individual strength.

He didn't have time to lament on anything further before he was yanked from his musings by very man he was to fight, the sound of a pencil scratching against paper piercing the rough silence that had fallen on the valley, the distance between the two men being only that of a few yards, close enough for them to both to make out every detail of the other, while still maintaining a good distance. Cobalt eyes met covered and shaded ones, the goliath of a man appearing to be completely focused on writing his rhymes down, speaking in his bastardized rap the whole time. "Yo, don'tcha know, that's my flow!" He paused briefly, looking down at the page before frowning and scratching it out. "Shit man, that's amateur stuff; not _worthee_ of the _Killer Bee_!"

The blonde shinobi raised an eyebrow at the man, before he decided that he'd had enough of this, the Raikage wanted a fight? He'd give him a fight. Forcing his chakra into his legs, using it to both grip the ground like cleats and to enhance his power to superhuman levels, the blonde shinobi shot off towards the writing man at an incredible speed, surprising all the people in the valley with the exception of the Raikage himself, and Kirabi. He had crossed the clearing so fast that his movements were a blur, the culminating event being Naruto forcing his chakra-enhanced blade against that of Kirabi's lightning infused and shimmering swords, the man holding one in each of his hands, their faces only a few inches from each other, both men's muscles tensed in a physical struggle of dominance.

Before the blonde shinobi had a second to attack with a second strike he was roughly kicked in the chest by the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi, being launched back across the area, flipping into a half twist as he moved, landing on his feet, one hand on the ground as he fell back dragging along the ground. "Yo my _Man,_ you gotta come at me with a _Plan_! I'm the boss of the _Hachibi,_ The one and only _Killah Bee!"_ Naruto did his best to ignore the inane rapping of the man, launching himself forward once more, his tactical mind whirring into motion as he seemingly flew through the air towards the man.

Ninja from Kumogakure were known for three major things when it came to combat: Kenjutsu, Lightning Ninjutsu, and their immense physical strength that allowed them to quite literally _live_ for combat. The first thing he needed to do was disarm the Bee, he knew that much. While Naruto himself was quite adept with a sword, he was no match for the man in Kenjutsu alone, the Jinchuriki was a legend in his own era when it came to that. After that, Kirabi would likely attempt to blitz him, pulling on the chakra of his tenant and attempting to attack him as a force of nature, and likely expecting the Uzumaki to respond in kind, but the thing was, Naruto was the only Jinchuriki that he knew of that didn't fight as one. The final part of his plan would be to wear the man down, his strength would take a lot of hits, but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He'd fought Jinchuriki before.

There was a brief exchange in Kenjutsu once more as Naruto finished formulating his plan, very aware of the eyes that were on him from the sidelines as he worked. He'd do his best to end this quickly, before it got too out of hand. The two men clashed once more, blades slicing against blades, before the duo parted once more in an explosive show of force, though this time the blonde shinobi was the victor of the bout, mirroring Kirabi's earlier move and kicking the large man in the chest with a chakra powered kick, dispersing it on impact throughout the man's body. As the Last Uzumaki launched himself off of the man, he forced himself into the air, dropping two smoke bombs on the ground below him. He was obscured in the gray smoke of his equipment before he had made it more than six feet in the air.

"Hey there _Mister Nine,_ that move there was _Pretty Fine!_ But seriously bro you need to _Chill Out,_ I don't even know what this fights _All About!"_ Kirabi's eyes rang out through the smoke, the blonde smirking as he listened to the seemingly crazy man, his plan already in motion to take down the man as he floated through the air, spinning as he threw kunai after kunai into the landscape below him, the set up being vital so he could match the man's speed. He never made it to the ground, never landed from his jump as his sword sprung to life in his arms, vanishing in a flash of blue as he began to move through the kunai. Before he had made three jumps though, there was a powerful burst of chakra that forced the smoke around the area to disperse immediately, revealing the revered Killer Bee in the middle of the area, a sword in each hand, unharmed.

Upon noticing the unique blade sticking out of the ground around him, Kirabi's eyes widened briefly behind his sunglasses, before he rapidly began dodging the attacks from the offending blonde shinobi, unsheathing the many swords on his back and throwing them into the air as he moved, only taking minor cuts from the Jounin as he did so, before jumping up and catching them all, falling back onto the ground in the dead center of the field, in the stance he so favored and had named the 'Akurobatto (Acrobat)' style, holding the blades in a very peculiar fashion the blonde had never seen before. The first two were held in the hinge joint of his right and left arm, another between his shoulder blade and neck, one in his mouth, another under his left armpit, yet another between the hip joint of his right, raised leg and the back leg of the same raised leg.

Naruto merely inclined his head slightly to the right, before he flashed towards the man once more, fiercely yet cautiously. The style the large man was using may have looked ridiculous, laughable even, but the Uzumaki was no fool, he knew that the man wouldn't employ the style in actual combat unless he was confident in it, so he would be taking no chances. The man would be getting disarmed shortly, whether he wanted it or not, those swords would be history before too long. This wasn't a fight he could afford to lose, not now, not ever. Konoha needed the support of the five villages, and it was his job to get it. He would not fail. That wasn't the type of man he was.

"Man oh man, the son of the big bad _Flash,_ just wanting to fight and smash and _crash!_ This fight is close to home fo' you I see, but it's time to show ya why they call me the _Killer Bee, Wheee!"_ Short needle-like swords met a single lone katana again and again as the two met and bounced apart, before flying back into each other again, Kirabi bouncing around like a human buzz saw that created a hate-child with a porcupine, Naruto flashing around at such a rapid rate there was only small flashes of blue that denoted where he had once been, yet the Hachibi Jinchuriki was still able to deflect all of his blows, the same thing not being able to be said of the last Uzumaki, who had several visible and shallow cuts littering his arms and torso.

The two landed apart from one another once more, staring down each other and the Jounin of Konoha allowed a small and sly smile to grace his features, the man was right where he wanted him. Right as the white haired man began to mumble one of his raps through the hilt of the sword in his mouth, the blonde shot forward once more, disappearing from the front of the man and reappearing in a flash of cobalt as he brought his sword crashing down from the larger man's back right. There was a loud clang as once again, Naruto's blade was caught by three of Kirabi's, before the man himself was stabbed with the other four, the blades striking with pinpoint accuracy into the man's left shoulder, right hip, left knee, and directly under the blonde's left kidney.

The Jinchuriki of the Hachibi held the man above him for a moment, there laden in his blades, before he saw the sparkle in the blonde's eyes, his own widening in surprise as the man caught in his blades muttered a single word before the world went white. "Boom." 'Naruto' exploded, sending the four swords that had pierce his body flying to the ends of the training ground, the explosion so dense and powerful that there was no hope of them being repaired. The three that Kirabi had been using to deflect the Jounin's own blade had been scattered as well, the stealthy Jounin had hid his true attack well, using a Kage Bunshin that was so overloaded with chakra that it was nearly impossible to tell the difference between it and the original if you weren't a sensor-nin.

The Elite Jounin of Kumo bounded back from the blast, his clothes and armor singed and his hair slightly burnt from the blast. It had been one helluva blast, as well, powerful enough to launch him away from the position the two had been fighting at, and also breaking, cracking, or at least throwing his many swords away from him, the blonde was cunning, he had to admit. He was barely able to get his chakra cloak up in time to cover his escape. He landed briefly, and was prepared for a quick melee exchange, watching as Naruto screamed towards him in a frontal assault, two more appearing on either side of him, all wielding their blades, the somewhat famous 'Kaze no Karitoriki' singing in the morning air as it sliced through the wind, just as its name denoted.

But before the three could clash with the man, two hands shot out of the ground with a muffled cry of "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique!)" He was pulled into the ground, his mobility cut off as he did so. However, as Kirabi was falling, he managed to pull off a flawless substitution with one of the attacking clones, changing places, and nailing it with a kick to the head as it sunk down, dispelling it immediately, turning and punching on of the others in the solar plexus, before landing a spinning reverse kick on the other in a flurry of Taijutsu. He was given no respite though, as several different forms of the shinobi he was fighting appeared from around the surrounding area, each one flashing through seals as they moved.

Kirabi wasted no time, he was done playing around, the blonde was pulling out all the stops, so he would do the same. "Get ready _Mister Nine,_ because once I'm done here your ass is _Mine! Wheeeee!"_ In seconds, glowing red chakra had covered his entire body, before condensing into what looked like the consistency of blood, eight tails of chakra lazily floating around behind him, a visage of a bull covering the man's head as the chakra in the air became almost heavy. The man that had been there a moment before began growing in size as he started to take on the true form of the Hachibi, the subjugated beast he held within him powerless to fight back as he stole its power. But then, before he could finish the full transformation, the assault started.

There were ten copies of Naruto that surrounded the growing man, each one flashing out the seals for a hand sign and completing them in practiced unison. "Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm!)", "Fūton: Shinkūgyoku! (Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets)", "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!)", "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Flame Bullet!)", "Doton: Doryūdan! (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!)", "Doton: Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Mud Wave Jutsu!)", "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!)", "Suiton: Suigadan! (Water Release: Water Bullets!)", "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!)", "Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)".

Ten separate techniques launched forth from the chakra powerhouse that was Naruto, each clone bursting out of existence as they finished. Lightning, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, two techniques of each element colliding into the mass of chakra that was the Hachibi Jinchuriki in his released form. Naruto's Tenketsu burned as his clones dispersed, he chakra coils scorching the inside of his body at the influx of the insane amount of chakra he had forced through his system. It had cost him, but it had worked, he noted as his flesh burned from the inside as he walked towards the fallen hulk of a man, now merely in his Version One form, Kirabi's body collapsed on the ground from the sheer magnitude of the blasts of chakra that he hadn't been able to avoid because of his massive size.

Naruto walked slowly towards the fallen man, watching as he struggled to sit up. He couldn't blame the man for trying, Bee certainly had heart, and had he known this was going to happen, he would have prepared a specific seal to contain the man without hurting him, but as it was, he had no choice but to use what he already had. In his left hand the last Uzumaki clutched a paper tag that when applied, would bind a person's mind within their body, in addition to sealing their chakra, demonic and otherwise, within themselves, though locked off from it. It had one major drawback though, and that was that the target had to be weakened to an immense point before it could be used, and while it was a viable option for use against a Jinchuriki, weakening one to such a state was no easy task, as he had demonstrated.

The heir to the Uzumaki clan knelt next to the man known as the Guardian of Kumo, who laid defeated at his feet, reaching forward and placing the seal onto the man's forehead, before he stood up, turning to face the rapidly approaching forms of the Raikage and Team Samui. Kirabi, though now unconscious and back in his base form, had a grin stretched across his face, it had been the best fight he had had in years, and even though he had lost, when he had clashed fists with Naruto he knew it was for a good cause, and as such, he didn't feel remorse for losing. There would always be time for a rematch anyways, he was sure that his brother would take whatever offer the blonde had given him.

Naruto wasn't on his feet when the four shinobi arrived, he had fallen to one knee, breathing heavily when the group made it to him. He looked up briefly, noticing they had arrived, and as he stood, he released the technique he'd been holding the entire time, and the Raikage didn't miss it as the orange pigmentation around his eyes faded, his chakra signature returning to normal as his sage mode slipped away and out of his system. The Last Uzumaki stood tall and proud, having bested the best Jinchuriki the world could through at him, not taking a single hit from the man's Bijuu as he fought. There were small cuts and bruises adorning his body, true, but buy in large he was unharmed from Kirabi. His chakra coils and tenketsu, while they were no doubt damaged in his final assault would no doubt heal in time, especially with his healing factor.

That had been the first time that he had forcefully chained that many different techniques together, and never of so many different chakra natures. It was absurd, really, considering he only had an affinity for three of them, but that didn't mean he could do it. It had killed his chakra reserves though, Sage Mode enhanced or not. He sighed briefly to himself as he moved closer to the Raikage, passing by the busty blonde Samui, stepping over the lollipop that Omoi had dropped, ignoring the vibrant red hair of Karui, before coming to stand face to face with the man that ran the village himself, drawing himself up to his full height and looking the man who had questioned his commitment in the eye before he spoke in a low and gruff tone, his voice not betraying how exhausted or in pain that last move had made him.

"Now… I believe we were discussing your acceptance of my offer…"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Holy shit on a stick, two chapters in one day? I hope you guys feel pretty special, cause my fingers are killing me. Naruto finally reveals Sage Mode! Whhaaaattt! Cool shit, man. Too bad it was basically forgotten in Canon as soon as he got his chakra cloak. Kinda bullshit, but whatever. Kishi is a multimillionaire and I make shit money being in the military, different strokes for different folks I guess. Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	21. Consequence of Action

**Good Evening and welcome back to the newest Chapter of 'Immortalized'! We're on to the 21** **st** **Installment! 21 Chapters guys! Holy fuckin shit! My story has more words in it than the first Harry Potter book, and while I know I'm no JK Rowling, it's still pretty cool to know. Just so you all know, I really appreciate the feedback and support you guys are giving me, I fuckin' love it all, good bad or ugly, it's great. I finally got around to do a little bit of editing, and the wall of text that was in Chap. 5 has now been broken and there have been some jutsu fixes/ grammar checks for the first 7 Chaps. Nothing that requires re-reading, but just figured I'd give you the heads up. Anyways…**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Consequence of Action**

* * *

 _A young Naruto walked along the path with his Godfather, Jiraiya, the two now back in Fire Country on their journey across the Elemental Nations, though they wouldn't be stopping in Konoha, or even passing through the village in the Leaves. The blonde was currently in one of his moods, the nine year old not having full control of his emotions, yet. He was young, brash, and immature, but then again, what child wasn't at his age? It was to be expected really, even if Jiraiya was doing his best to change and reform his young charge's anger into something more positive and productive._

 _The two had just passed into Fire Country a few days ago, having passed through Wave Country on their return trip from Uzushiogakure, the ancestral home of the Uzumaki Clan, and the birthplace and true home of the blonde's mother, Kushina. The older man had told his Godson about his home a while ago, after telling him of his mother and father, and the boy had wanted to visit his home. Though the Toad Sage had been against it at first, he had eventually been worn down through the younger boys constant badgering, and had finally caved and taken him there._

 _The Village Hidden by Whirling Tides was the shinobi village of the_ _Land of Whirlpools_ _. Its ninja were renowned for their_ _Fuuinjutsu_ _to the point that it led to its destruction during the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War, in a joint attack from Kiri and Iwa. The Iwa forces had distracted the Konoha forces along the border, keeping the Whirlpool village's greatest allies occupied, when Kiri assaulted and annihilated the smaller village, wiping it from the map completely and utterly. Those who survived the village's destruction scattered across the globe to seek refuge, though they were few and far between, Naruto being the only known person to currently use the name of 'Uzumaki' or any of the other known clan names._

 _The people of Uzushiogakure were noted to have notoriously long lives, so much so it had gained the epithet "The Village of Longevity". In terms of appearance, the village seemed to have been composed of several high-rise buildings, though they now all stood in ruin. A wide river seemingly ran through the village and was gapped by large bridges, all once again having been destroyed in the attack from many years ago. The surrounding countryside was dominated by steep hills and rolling waves._

 _Uzushiogakure had close ties with_ _Konohagakure_ _, due to Uzushio's_ _Uzumaki clan_ _and Konoha's_ _Senju clan_ _being distant blood relatives, and now, in remembrance of the Leaf's failure to protect her ally, all_ _flak jackets_ _worn by the_ _Chunin_ _and_ _Jounin_ _-level shinobi of Konoha bore the crest of Uzushio, symbolizing the strong friendship between both villages, and as a symbol of repentance. The failure of Konoha to defend its small ally during the war resulted in the death of the hidden village, the whirlpools stained with the blood of its countrymen. Surprisingly, the blonde had taken the information that Jiraiya fed him rather well, but that was before he saw the village, and bore witness to the destruction of the place that would likely have been his home._

 _The blonde had become numb to his emotions during his time in the village with Jiraiya, often lying awake at night crying, wishing for his dead parents to resurface, hoping against hope and knowing that he'd never feel the loving embrace of his mother, knowing that he'd never hear his father tell him that he was proud of him, it was almost too much to bear for the young man. But it was after the two left the fallen and forgotten village that Naruto's attitude took a turn for the worse, his anger and rage coming back in a vengeance, worse than even the anger he had felt before when the two had been in Kumogakure._

 _Gone had been the happy go lucky kid who wanted to do nothing but train to protect those he loved, the one who loved the thrill of a challenge and the wind in his hair, and in his place was a young boy who was quite similar to a young and brooding Uchiha. He wanted the Kiri-Nin who destroyed his home, killed his ancestors, to pay and pay dearly. He wanted to choke the life out of Iwa himself, and bleed the ground red with the blood of the same men that destroyed his village, he wanted to do so much, his vengeance and drive for it was absolute, and this worried Jiraiya greatly, the man doing all he could to turn the young boy's thoughts, knowing the road that those thoughts led, and wanting anything else for his Godson._

 _The two had stopped in a small town near the western border of Hot Water, and Konoha, where Jiraiya had offered to treat the boy to some ramen, under the guise of rewarding him for all the good training he had been getting in, something to which the young shinobi-in-training had happily agreed, giving Jiraiya hope for the kid's happiness to return. They'd sat down, and while Naruto hungrily had dived into the noodles, slurping them noisily, the Toad Sage had taken a more reserved approach to the treat, speaking to his young charge in between bites, and forcing his trademark grin into his face as he spoke._

" _When people get hurt, they learn to hate... when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow... and how you grow is up to you._ " _Here the large man paused, noticing that the child next to him was intently listening, even if his eyes were still focused on the broth he was slurping. "Naruto, one person, one singular person is all everyone needs in this world. "It's said that whenever that someone is thinking of you, that place is truly your home, so it doesn't matter if the Uzushio was destroyed, because home is wherever you make it, Naruto."_

 _Jiraiya paused briefly, loudly slurping up his own noodles and smiling inwardly as the child behind his giggled at his antics, before he placed the bowl back down on the counter, turning to face him, and looking in the azure eyes of his apprentice. "_ _Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it, but I don't know what! But I do believe that someday the day will come when people truly understand one another!" The Toad Sage grinned happily once more, reaching one of his large hands out to ruffle the blonde's hair as he talked. "If I can't find the answer, it'll be up to you to do it! Do you accept this mission, Naruto?!"_

 _The white haired bulk of a man could barely contain his hearty chuckle as the boy jumped up from his seat, giving him a salute and standing as straight as his little frame allowed him, all but shouting out how he 'accepted the mission' from his mentor and last living shred of family. Jiraiya could no longer hold in the wide grin that split across his face as he looked down at the Legacy that Minato had left behind, knowing the older blonde would have been proud of his son in this moment, before he himself stood, once again ruffling the child's hair much to his bemusement as he talked once more, leading the kid out of the stand and back into the large and open world, that somehow seemed just a little bit more forgiving after their meal._

" _Never go back on your word, and never give up, because that's your ninja way, right? And as your mentor, I have no business whining! Because the student's nindo should mirror their Master's too! Isn't that so, Naruto?_ "

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a presence arrive at his side, the person not doing anything to hide their approach. He'd been standing on the roof of the building for a while now, this particular one being of the tallest in Kumo. The blonde had been woken from his sleep with his usual nightmares, and instead of going back to sleep as he knew he'd be unable, the expert shinobi had quickly ducked the Kumo nin that were still watching him and his team, leaving a Kage Bunshin in his place to feign his never leaving.

It had been three days since his battle with the Hachibi Jinchuriki Killer Bee, and minutes after the battle the Raikage had approached the barely standing blonde, a grin spread wide across his face as he had approached. He had let out a hearty laugh after making sure that his brother was fine, before Naruto had graciously accepted the offer to be treated for his wounds in one of Kumogakure's hospitals. Soon after he had recovered enough to continue his duties, he had begun meeting with the 'A' to discuss the terms of their alliance, and would be accepting the agreed upon terms the following morning, after which Team Seven would be leaving.

Speaking of Team Seven, they had bonded rather well with Team Samui over the last several days, as they worked alongside their counterparts. It was good, really, to see the bridges that had been burnt with the last generation showing the beginnings of being repaired, and Naruto was all the more glad for it. Omoi and Sasuke had taken to training with each other over the last couple of days, battling each other and constantly talking about the different techniques that could be used and countered, the two becoming fast friends as they fought and spent time together.

Karui had been spending a lot of time with Sakura, as the two were similar in their fiery nature, and she had been happy to show her fellow kunoichi around Kumo, to the area's she was allowed to enter, at least. But the strangest part was that Karui was pulling double duty, spending a large amount of her time with Sai, as well. Sai had been painting a lot, sitting on the roof of buildings, park benches, wherever he felt like and drawing and sketching upon his canvas since the modified Team Seven had been granted extra liberty by the Raikage, and Karui had really taken to spending time with the pale man, the two becoming nearly inseparable during their stay in Kumo, with Sai even giving the redhead one of his paintings as a parting gift, something that was unpresented. Naruto even thought he saw a true, genuine smile grace his lips.

And the Last Uzumaki himself had found his time being split, but that was fine, the benefits of the Kage Bunshin were endless, so he'd split himself into three, one hanging out with the briefly hospitalized Kirabi and keeping him company, the original with the Raikage, hammering out the details of the task force that was being organized to hunt the increasingly bold Akatsuki, and a final copy spending a day or two with his fellow blonde and team leader herself, Samui. His time with Kirabi was…interesting to say the least, and he'd be lying if he didn't find himself jealous of the older man. The way he was greeted and treated as he walked through the village was so drastically different from his own and other village's treatment of Jinchuriki that it was as clear as night and day.

In Kumo, Kirabi was treated as well as the Raikage himself, and Naruto bore witness to it all. Children would come up to him and ask for autographs, they'd climb onto the man's broad shoulders, hell some of them even attempted to rap, and he would always cringe when the bull of a man rapped back at the kids, talking in his crazy and eccentric fashion. But there was no denying it, the citizens of Kumogakure, both ninja and civilian alike, adored the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi, and treated him as something of a celebrity. Being the self-professed 'Guardian of the Clouds' had its perks, he supposed. The blonde man was jealous of his counterpart, but the feeling quickly passed. If not for his experiences and the life he lived, he wouldn't be the man he was today.

But the last Uzumaki had to admit he had the most fun with the cool headed Samui. The two had only spent a few hours together on each day, but they had been fun, and he had genuinely enjoyed himself and the time he spent with the busty woman. The two hadn't done much, merely walking the village in the late afternoon on the first day, making idle chatter and moving along the streets of the large industrialized village close to each other. The second day they had met earlier, grabbing a late breakfast together, before the two had found themselves in a park, the two adults taking a brief break from their busy lives to simply lay back and watch the clouds pass overhead, similar to the way that a certain Nara in Konoha was fond of doing.

Those two days were the reason that the woman didn't need to announce herself as she landed next to him on the large tower that overlooked the village, landing a few feet behind him before she walked up to him, taking a seat next to him on the edge of the building, the two sitting close enough to almost be touching, the body heat from both mixing with each other, keeping them somewhat warm in the night air. The two blondes sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one acknowledging the other for the longest time, before Naruto eventually poke, breaking the peace that blanketed the area, using nothing more than a simple question. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope. You?" As opposed to her talkative and impulsive teammates, Samui was the epitome of mature and calm. Often, she was generally silent, only speaking when needed around most until she truly opened up to someone. The blonde woman also had something of a verbal tick, her favorite word being 'cool', something she said often. Because of her calm personality that never left even during stressful missions, the Yondaime Raikage had on more than one occasion told her that he valued her as a capable kunoichi, completely trusting her. The woman looked over to her companion, watching as he did the same, dark cobalt eyes meeting the bright blue of her own, before she said and leaned back, her arms holding her up as she answered the blonde's unasked question. "Nightmares."

To her surprise, he didn't ask her what they were about, he didn't pry into her social life, or attempt to make her feel better, like others did. Naruto simply laid back on the roof top, his legs dangling over the side as he reached his arms behind his head to rest there, looking up into the night sky, watching the stars. It was a cold minute before he began talking, startling the woman who was sitting next to him briefly before she began listening intently to the man as he spoke, his voice a soft whisper that was gruff and manly in nature, yet at the same time, somehow vulnerable. It was odd to hear that tone come from the man that had beaten Killer Bee in a fight, but she wasn't one to judge.

"Believe it or not, I'm up here for the same reasons. I've lost a lot of people that were close to me over the last couple of years, and it's been rough." The man sighed softly, wiping once of his hands down his face briefly before continuing. "I've talked to people about it, of course. Everyone tells me that I need to move on, but I _can't._ If I do that, then I'll forget them, forget their memories, and I can't bring myself to let go of them. I know that I should, but…" He paused, closing his eyes as his face stared onward towards the sky, the man hiding the shiver that ran down his spine. "I have so few people left, I can't let them go or I'll be alone."

He chuckled softly to himself as he finished, briefly muttering to himself as he opened his eyes. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, I don't usually dump my problems onto other people, I'm sorry." Naruto wiped the small amount of precipitation that had gathered on his forehead in the night air, sitting up and moving to stand, fully intent on leaving the girl there alone, he truly didn't mean to drop his issues onto her shoulders, for some reason he had just started talking. Before he could fully stand though, a soft weight fell upon his shoulder, and before he could stop himself, the Jounin of Konoha looked over his shoulder to find Samui still seated next to him, looking up to him and holding onto his shoulder with her hand, pulling him gently back down to the ground to sit next to her.

Only, for a brief second as she looked up to him, Naruto didn't see the blonde hair and blue eyes of the Kumo Jounin. For a slit second until he blinked it away with a brief shake of his head, the woman that was looking back up to him was the redheaded and foul mouthed master of Genjutsu he had once loved, Tayuya. For that split second, his heart stopped, before he forced himself back to the here and now. He wasn't in his home in Konoha before the war, he was in Kumo negotiating an alliance. His heart pounding in his chest so loudly he was sure that the blue-eyed woman next to him could hear it, Naruto forced himself to calm as he sat back down on the roof next to her, the two being silent for a few moments before her voice permeated the darkness.

"A lot of people don't know this, but I used to have a brother. His name… his name was Atsui, and he was every bit as fiery as his name was, always coming up with catchphrases that had the word 'hot' in it or something. When we were younger, before I was a shinobi though, and before I moved to Kumo, there was a bandit raid in the small village where we lived." Samui paused, taking a breath and exhaling slowly before she continued. "Atsui didn't make it, I was young so I don't remember it very well, but I know that he died defending me. After that, I just kind of drifted for a bit, before I wound up in Kumo when I was twelve."

The blonde woman sighed softly as he head drooped, she could feel Naruto's eyes on her as she continued talking, very well aware of the comforting arm that he placed around her shoulders, her body unconsciously leaning into his in the motion. "When I first moved to the village, I didn't have a lot of friends, the first one I really made was Yugito. She and I were always together after that, she called me her sister, and I promised myself that I would always protect her like one, just like Atsui did for me." The usually composed woman's voice trailed off as she finished her story, not even needing to go into details about how she felt or had reacted over the death of Yugito, now revealed to be her pseudo-sister.

Naruto simply sat there and was quiet, there wasn't anything he knew to really say to the woman to comfort her, and it wouldn't be fair of him to tell her to move on when he himself couldn't even face his own demons. To an extent, the woman that was leaning into his side seemed to be in the same boat as he was, her own inability haunting her in her darkest moments while she slept, the same as he was. Neither person was able to let go of the one's they loved, for fear of neglecting them to the ravages of time or for otherwise, it didn't matter, the root of their pain was the same. Both shinobi and kunoichi knew this about the other, but in those few moments as they watched the first rays of the sun begin to rise over the peaks of the mountain range as the two broken souls held each other softly, it didn't really seem to matter.

As the two blondes of villages worlds apart from each other sat and began to watch the village come to life, Naruto unconsciously pulled Samui just a little bit closer to him, the woman happily complying in the early morning air, ready to huddle into whatever warmth that she could get. Neither of them moved for several minutes, both content to simply enjoy each other's company as they sat there on the cold metal that made up the building. They both still had a few hours before they had to report to the Raikage for Team Seven's departure, so it wasn't as if they were in a rush, besides, they'd spent the entire night in the company of each other talking and finally letting a small amount of their issues out, so a few more minutes spent in comfortable silence wouldn't hurt.

That was the excuse they made for themselves, anyways. In truth, they simply enjoyed each other's company more than they desired to move.

* * *

"…and in conclusion, the Cloud accepts the treaty from the Leaf, under the conditions set forth and agreed upon by both parties." The Raikage's secretary finished her sentence, the man himself still seated behind his desk as he finished signing and stamping his official on a scroll, before returning it to the blonde shinobi standing in front of him. Naruto couldn't help but grin, his endeavor having been a success with the new treaty that bonded the two villages of Kumogakure and Konohagakure for the first time in generations.

The assistant of the Raikage was named 'Mabui', if the Jounin of Konoha could remember properly, and he had to admit, from his brief meetings with her during his and 'A's negotiations, the kunoichi was very good at her job. The woman remained calm in stressful situations during the talks and had always immediately completed any tasks she was given. She had also been very respectful of the blonde and his team, as she referred to them all with honorifics despite being asked not to, and that they were all younger than her.

Mabui herself was a decent looking woman as well, and she and Sakura had even gotten along pretty well with their small interactions. She, like many others in Kumo, had dark skin, but coupled it with her bright green eyes. The personal assistant was professional even in her appearance, wearing very formal attire consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt, along with a pair of long earrings and sandals. Her light grey hair was pulled back into a bun with two bangs that fell on either side of her curved face, her smile dancing across her face as she finished handing the blonde shinobi all of the papers and scrolls he needed from the Raikage.

Taking the scroll from the woman, Naruto turned and was almost out the door of the office when the gruff and overly masculine voice of the Raikage called out to him, stopping him in his tracks as the man all but yelled his name. The blonde stopped, his hand reaching for the door before he lowered it, turning his head to the left to slowly look over his shoulder at the large man that was seated behind his desk. The older man stroked his white beard for a brief, tense moment before he spoke, the man preferring to use his fists to talk, but in this moment, allowing words to convey his message. "Don't make me regret this."

To his credit, all the Last Uzumaki did was nod slightly, not giving the man any words, before he opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind him as he went. In seconds, the man was outside of the large building, giving his late father a run for his money in speed as he moved through it, blasting out the door and back towards the gates of the large and heavily militarized village, spotting his team waiting around for him by the gates. In a moment of sheer happiness and excitement, the Jounin flashed to his team, reappearing from the seal he had placed on Sasuke, startling the group that was idly chatting with Team Samui and Kirabi, who had come to see the group off.

The members of the improved (in his humble opinion) Team Seven didn't even jump at his sudden appearance anymore, having grown somewhat used to his sudden appearances and disappearances, even if it did still annoy the hell out of them. He was going to keep doing it, whether they liked it or not, so after the hundredth or so time, they had all become relatively desensitized to the shock value of the technique. However, the same could not be said for Team Samui, how all noticeable jumped or were startled when he 'magically' appeared in front of them, the three having only gotten a brief glimpse of the techniques abilities when he had his fight with Kirabi.

"Hey there _Mister Nine,_ I'm laughing watching you _all the time_! That shit you just used was pretty _fancy_ , a trick like that must come in pretty _handy!_ " The large man grinned, speaking in the typical rhyme that Naruto was quickly becoming used to. The older Jinchuriki hadn't been a bad sport about his battle with the blonde, having told him that it was the best fight he had had in a long time, not having had a real reason to cut loose in several years. The blonde shinobi had been happy to hear that there was no bad blood between them, as he hadn't been trying to hurt the man, but at the same time he had been wholly unwilling to lose the fight with the man and place the alliance in jeopardy.

As it was, the two would be parting on good terms, and Killer Bee had even given him his own little 'stamp of approval' in the form of one of his legendary fist bumps, something the shinobi had happily accepted with a grin of his own, slamming his fist into the large man's as he let out his trademark _'Wheee!'._ The Jounin sighed softly through his grin, if he didn't know better he would honestly think that the man was completely insane. He finished his goodbye with his fellow Jinchuriki before he turned back to his team, watching them all briefly say their farewells to the members of Team Samui, and turning to the woman herself to give her his own parting words.

The two stood, face to face while the others idly chatted amongst each other, oceanic blue eyes looking into those of their azure counterparts on the woman before them. The two said nothing for a few moments, drinking in each other's forms, every little aspect of the one in front of them, knowing it would likely be awhile before they saw each other. Neither was willing to admit it to the other, or even to themselves, but they both had become somewhat fond of each other and the talks they had had. Naruto, as usual, was the first to break their little silence. "So, I guess this is it."

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Samui nodded briefly in turn, looking down briefly before her usual smirk appeared on her face, her gaze returning to her fellow blonde as she placed her hands on her hips, leaning forward ever so slightly as she jutted her right hip out just a small amount to the side. "Stay in touch, Naruto. And if you ever find yourself in Kumo, well….it'd be pretty _cool_ if you looked me up." As the busty woman finished her sentence, she was happy to notice the small blush that was creeping across the man's face. Deciding to mess with him a little bit more, she gave him a small wink with her left eye, before standing back up and turning around to walk away, her team already hot on her heels as she raised a hand over her shoulder in farewell, not looking back.

The Last Uzumaki was dumbfounded, to say the least. The woman had caught him completely off guard, and then left before he could even recover. He had to admit, it was pretty cool, and he would definitely think on taking her up on her offer if he ever found himself back in Kumogakure. The man quickly tore his eyes away from the retreating girl that surprised him, before he turned back to his team, nodding at the three of them, and after verifying that everyone was ready to leave, he gave the order and as one Team Naruto forced chakra to their legs, launching themselves down into the unforgiving ranges of rolling hills and valleys, down the range of mountains.

No one, neither the Kumogakure Ninja nor those from Konoha noticed the odd plant like man than had watched the entire endeavor, melting back into the ground before disappearing completely.

* * *

It had only taken the group a short six days to return to Konohagakure no Sato, a day faster than their original trip to Kumogakure. Team Naruto had had a nice an uneventful return journey, aside from a small spat with a group of bandits that had quickly been taken care of. Honestly, with the literal monster in combat that was the Last Uzumaki, the Ninjutsu master that was Sasuke, the support specialist named Sai, and the absurdly strong Sakura, the 'battle' if one could call it that, had been over before it even began. It was silly, really. A trivial matter, but the team had dealt with their setback, and then redoubled their efforts to make it home.

It wasn't long into the morning when the four-man cell arrived at the gates, quickly passing through them and into the village they hailed from, well three of the members at least, Naruto himself had hung back at the gatehouse itself, having a brief conversation with the two men, Izumo and Kotetsu, jokingly asking them if they had any relatives in other countries, seeing as how all the gate guards he had met bore a striking resemblance to the two men. The blonde turned to leave, before he doubled back, quickly placing a small envelope onto the desk the two men were behind, giving a small wink to Izumo, sliding it to him with a snicker before walking off, hurrying to rejoin his teammates.

The man looked to his partner and best friend briefly, Kotetsu only shrugging before the other man picked up the envelope, tearing it open and pulling out the contents inside, what he saw making his eyes widen and his hands begin to slightly tremble. He gently reached inside the now open envelope, softly grabbing the item inside and removing it, his mouth opening slightly as he revealed it to be a picture. But not just any picture, it was the one and only picture that he had ever gotten of Konoha's Sword Mistress, Uzuki Yugao, when she had been enjoying a day off at the springs, naked as the day she was born. It was the same picture that he had lost to Kotetsu years before in a high stakes game of 'Go-Fish', and the man couldn't help but let out a yell of triumph as he held it over his head in victory.

The man's moment was short lived though, as his partner was now intrigued by his friend dancing around in the booth, holding what appeared to be a photo over his head… It then it hit him. He didn't even need to look, he knew _exactly_ what the picture was of, but that wasn't what bothered him. No, the fact that cause his eyes to narrow and made him rise from his seat was the small detail that the picture belonged to _him._ He had won it in the game, so it was his, and he wanted it back. Kotetsu hadn't even gotten to take the picture home with him for some fun, some much deserved fun, but that was all about to change. He drew himself up, and lunged, his hands clasping around Izumo's throat as the two fell to the ground in the booth, their gate duty forgotten as they dropped.

Meanwhile, Naruto and company heard the resounding yell of triumph, followed almost immediately by a scream of anger and then the sound of fighting. Sakura, Sasuke and Sai were immediately on guard, their training overtaking their instincts, as the three immediately reaching for their respective weapons as they turned to face the unknown threat, prepared to defend their home before their blonde leader was quick to flash in front of them, reassuring them that it was just a friendly scuffle and that they shouldn't worry about it.

After a few minutes and some brief questioning, Naruto had managed to convince his team that it really wasn't worth their time, and the group continued on to their briefing that they would soon be giving to the Godaime Hokage, ever so suspicious of the manically laughing blonde that was in their company. Something was definitely up with the man, but they had learned that sometimes, the crazed Uzumaki was best left to his own devices. All three members noted though, that it was definitely nice to see the man going back to his old, laughing self, instead of being depressed and serious like he now usually was, becoming something of a smaller Kakashi.

Yeah, sometimes it was best to not question certain things.

* * *

The briefing that the modified Team Seven had given their Hokage had gone like all the other ones they had ever given the man following their successful missions, clear, concise, and in depth, while still being short enough to not drag on over time. Naruto had conducted the meeting, the Godaime listening in silence with only small input from his team from time to time, before the Chunin, Tokubetsu Jounin and Jounin had been relieved and exited, the Last Uzumaki staying behind to talk with his leader, giving whatever information he deemed unnecessary to his report, but it also had a double meaning.

It was during these meetings that Kakashi was attempting to gauge the mental state of easily his most powerful asset. Whether the blonde knew it and recognized it or not, he was the strongest shinobi in the village, and by a pretty decent margin. There weren't many people in the village he couldn't beat without going into the famed 'Sage Mode', and once he did there was no contest. The man was simply unmatched in terms of combat prowess, but all that power was useless if he wasn't in a proper state of mind and allowed his emotions to rule over his judgement. So periodically, Naruto would talk with his leader, and the Hokage would do his best to judge if the man was fit for duty.

He wasn't picking favorites, though. This was something that he did with all of his higher level ninja, the lower levels having their own psych-teams that would deal with them. The higher echelon ninja though, were of personal responsibility to the village's leader, or at least, that was how he felt about it. Kakashi refused to allow unfit ninja into the field, and no matter how powerful Naruto was or how much of an asset he would be to the battlefield, if the man wasn't mentally fit for duty, then he was not authorized to leave. That was how he led his village, mental and physical stability being the standard.

And so far, it seemed to be working. Mission success was at an all-time high for the village of Konohagakure no Sato, and morale seemed to be raising at an astonishing rate ever since the end of the war with the Kusa/Oto/Taki alliance and the death of Orochimaru. However, the morale of the village as a whole didn't always reflect the morale of the individual ninja, and this was often the case with the blonde shinobi. The man had been seen as the hero of the war, slaying enemy after enemy and fighting on every front, defending everyone he met to the best of his ability, but the Last Uzumaki was only able to see the blood he had spilt, not the lives he had saved. It was self-depreciating, and it was a very unhealthy attitude.

But as a whole, the man had seemed to be improving, especially with this recent trip to Kumogakure, the blonde seemed to be coming around and returning to his old self. It was true that the man would never be the same after all he had seen and done, that was simply too much to ask, but it was in a positive light that Kakashi looked upon the son of his Sensei and noted that he seemed to be coming around, and began to pull himself from whatever slump he had been in, at least on the outside. The life of a shinobi was never easy, and that only grew with the more that one did, the more missions they took, the more lives they both ended and saved. It wasn't glamorous, but it was a way of life.

The life of a soldier was a rough and hardy one, never easy and a challenge every step of the way. The burden of leadership only added to the weight upon every warriors shoulders, and there wasn't much to lift the crushing pressure that fell upon every warfighters back, even in times of peace it was strenuous. The battlefield was the great equalizer among men, it didn't care if the people that shed blood underneath its harsh summit were black or white, male or female, rich or poor, alone from birth or raised with love, war was hell for everyone and everyone, from the lowest Private to the highest General. Though the current 'war' was over and won, there would eventually be another. There was always another. Even in times of 'peace', there was conflict among nations.

There were three great ironies of the lifestyle of the common Shinobi: The first was that they sought to promote peace, but did this through mastery of techniques bred for war as their means. The second was that enlightened men wanted to open the minds of men, but required absolute obedience to a leader and set of rules. And the final ironic philosophy was that the way of the shinobi sought to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet were are practitioners of it themselves. Kakashi had no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities.

Was he supposed to bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if he did that, what did it say of him, and at what line would he stop? Would it be written that he and his shinobi were liars, devoid of all sense of honor? That they were frauds? That they were weak? Long days and nights were spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years he'd had to reflect, still the silver haired man can find no suitable answer, and feared that one may not even exist. They of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means, who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those they deemed their enemies, life in itself was a contradiction. It was in these moments that the former-Jounin knew why the Sandaime had always seemed so tired and aged, even in the beginning of his term.

The War is the world, and the World is the war. But behind every blade is a human being. We are those people. We are the Jaded and the Naive. We are the Honorable, and the Criminal. We are the bound for Legend, and the Lost to History. We are the Knights of the Sky, the Ghosts in the Desert, and the Rats in the Mud. They push, and in turn we push back. But every once in a while, we push hard enough that the light breaks through the clouds, so the world beyond the constant battle glimmers...

Just out of reach.

* * *

 _Drowning._

 _He was drowning in the river he had been swimming in. It was odd, he didn't remember coming to the river, but he definitely remembered swimming briefly in the murky waters, before he felt something grab his ankle and pull him under the dark waves, yet when he tried to break free of its grasp, there was nothing there, though he was still being forced under the waves by something. And then, just as the blonde was gasping under the rough waters for breath, the liquid of the river filling his throat against his will, he was on land, broken through onto the other side. But as he opened his eyes, the battle hardened shinobi wished he had remained in the waves, suffocating on the water that forced itself upon him._

 _He was on the battlefield of Sheriku- the bloodiest fight he had been a part of during Konoha's push into Otogakure. The Last Uzumaki wasn't even supposed to be there. He had been on his way from a separate mission, when the distress flare had gone up. In that moment, it didn't matter that he was exhausted from a previous fight, it didn't matter that he had already done his part as far as anyone else was concerned. When the blonde Jounin of Konoha saw the red flare in the night sky, his direction changed and his speed increased unconsciously as his course was modified. It was his duty to protect his men. That was the promise he had made to them._

 _But he had arrived too late. Naruto could still feel the despair in his heart, the lump in his stomach, as he landed briefly on the tree and took in the battlefield. The sneak attack from the Oto forces had come from nowhere, and with the element of surprise, they had decimated the Leaf camp, taking no prisoners. Men, women, children that shouldn't have been there, but fuck it they were Genin so they could fight, all of them were lying on the cold and unforgiving ground, the blood from their wounds still fresh and wet, the attack having only concluded moments ago. The Heir to the Uzumaki was moving before he even registered what was happening, his signature tri-pronged kunai falling into his hands with practiced ease as he dropped to the ground._

 _The first three Chunin he fell upon didn't even have time to blink, their throats were cut and they were dead before their bodies even hit the ground, the shadow that passed them by moving so quickly the blood splatter from their wounds not gracing his body, his blades moving so quickly and with surgical precision that the liquid never made it to them. He made no clones, this was his job. There were no high level jutsu that were thrown around, even the Hiraishin was not being used for this, the man relying on nothing but his own intense speed._

 _Ninja after ninja fell under him, and by the time Naruto had forced his way through the first twenty, a small platoon at most, the enemy began to take notice of him, calling out warnings to their friends and teammates, their hands flashing through their own hand seals to launch their jutsu. It would all be for naught as the blonde menace slashed, hacked, and sliced with practiced and eased precision that was worthy of the most expert surgeon. In the end, only two men actually got off their techniques, and the Jounin of Konoha made no effort to dodge them, the fireball from the first crashing into his body, the slicing wind blades from the second impacting shortly after._

 _Yet onward he trudged, burnt clothes and cut skin already healing over, his gaze hard and unforgiving as he walked towards the men, the two petrified under his steely blue gaze as the realization hit them that they stood no chance of survival. Before them stood the nemesis of the Sound,_ t _he 'Konoha no Kurimuzon Chiratsuki (Crimson Flicker of Konoha)', named not after the color of his flashes like his father, but the spilt blood left behind from the technique. The two men who had been lucky enough to get off their jutsu, their lives not even having time to flash before their eyes, fell to the ground, an immaculate, tri-pronged kunai knife piercing the forehead of each, dead center and split between their eyes._

 _The blonde Jounin stood in the destroyed field that had been the town of Sheriku, and only then did he realize that there were no survivors from either side. He looked about him in the moonlight, unable to stop his eyes from lingering for a moment of the body of the Konoha shinobi he had let down, lingering on them, recognizing a few here and there, having spent time with all of them at some point during his life. This was truly terrible. The fog wasn't lifting, the moon's light shined down on him like a spotlight, almost as if he was the star of a show, the battlefield his stage in his performance of tragedy._

 _Naruto was unable to force himself to not look down at his hands, and though they were pristine, immaculate, and clean, he was unable to look past the blood that stained them. And once again, just like it had with the river, the scene changed. He was no longer at the field of broken men in Sheriku, but now he was in Konoha, at a funeral. But the odd thing was, it wasn't just one pyre, no that would have been too easy. As far as he could see, there were lit fires, every direction he turned another one gracing his sight with the majestic flames that burned the oil soaked wood of the body atop it. He didn't need to see the names above the plaques on each one, he knew them, knew them all. For many, he had spoken at their send off, but for all he had led, had inspired, and ultimately, had failed._

 _It started off small, quiet, barely perceptible on the wind that carried as the only live man in the area tried desperately to ignore it, forcing his hands over his ears and slamming his eyes shut in desperation. But the noise grew, starting from one voice whispering his name, to two voices, three, four, five… Soon they weren't whispering under their breath in a hushed tone, now the unison of voices was talking in a normal tone, more and more joining in as the sounds traveled around the valley, the sound bouncing around and assaulting him from all ends._

 _And then the voices began yelling, calling out his name in anger, hatred, confusion, hope, sadness, all emotions crossing the entire spectrum, before they began screaming his name. 'Naruto!' yelled out in a thousand different voices, in a thousand different tones, a thousand different meanings all attacking his ears and mind in a relentless assault that he couldn't fight off no matter how much he begged them, pleaded with them to stop, that he was sorry, that he'd do anything to make it up to them, hoping and praying to any god that would listen to him._

' _Naruto! Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!'_

* * *

The Last Uzumaki shot out of his bed in a cold sweat, like he had become nearly accustomed to over the last several months, going on over a year now. However, that never made it any easier though, and every time he found himself awake in an angry and apologetic and yet, fearful haze, he knew that that was the extent of sleep he was going to be getting for the night. It took him a few minutes to calm himself, and he idly noted that it was getting easier for him to do that when he awoke, and also that he wasn't waking up screaming anymore, merely grunting and breathing heavily.

The man glanced absentmindedly over to the clock near his bed, noting that it was just after two in the morning, good. He'd managed to get about six hours of sleep this time, which was about an hour and a half more than he usually averaged on the all too often nights like these. He was dressed and out of the door into the cool night air in a matter of minutes, heading out to the one spot in the world where he felt he was able to repent for his actions, however little good it actually did in the long run. Naruto trudged along the streets of Konoha, his head low, yet his shoulders squared, the evidence of the burden he willfully carried evident as it metaphorically weighed upon his shoulders. The man wasn't far from the memorial stone when he was joined by another person.

The ANBU Agent landed next to him in near silence and complete grace, both befitting of the 'Panther' mask that the woman wore. Her voice was the terse and metallic one that was derived of every Agent in the Leaf's Black Op Corps. "Jounin Uzumaki. You presence is urgently requested in the Hokage's Office. Acknowledge." There was no need for words, his personal feelings came second to his duty, that was one of the tenants that he as a ninja lived by. The mission came first, and if the Hokage was 'requesting' him now, in the dead of night, who was he to deny it? He gave Panther a slight nod, and before the woman was able to shunshin away the man vanished in a flash of cobalt.

Seconds later the man reappeared in the office of his absolute leader, his eyes quickly adjusting as he took in his surroundings, his left eyebrow raising slightly at the odd company of the room, before he addressed the Godaime with a quick and respectful 'Hokage-Sama', moving to the side of the man's desk. Kakashi himself looked as if he had just been roused from his sleep, his visible eye drooping slightly, and missing his usually present flak jacket, but otherwise unchanged. But that wasn't the odd part, that right being reserved to the two toads that were sitting on the large oak desk in the center of the room.

Naruto would have recognized the two great Toad Sages Fukusaku and Shima anywhere, but then again there weren't really that many amphibians on this place on existence that could talk and form coherent sentences, so it wasn't all that hard. Plus, the blonde had spent six months with the two of them and Jiraiya, training to master Senjutsu in the Toads home, the summon mountain of Mt. Myōboku, so it wasn't as if the man was a stranger to them. But the odd thing was that the two old toads looked exhausted, battered, even, and Fukusaku was clutching a cloak around his body, something that the much younger blonde man had never seen him do before.

But there were two things that worried the blonde, the first being the sad and defeated looks that was written across the two Toad's faces, their eyes down cast as they refused to meet his eyes, the mask on Kakashi's face giving the Jounin nothing to work with. The second thing, and the much more alarming, was that Jiraiya was nowhere in sight, and that was unlike him. He had always made it a point to be the first to greet him when he was in the village, and when the two were training he never left Fukusaku's side, yet now the man simply wasn't there, and that was alarmingly out of character for the large one-armed man.

Kakashi was the first one to break the silence, tearing his eye from the Toads on his desk, the two already briefing him on everything before he had called Naruto in to break the news to the blonde shinobi, he had a right to be the first to know. "Naruto… please take a seat." The man paused briefly, motioning to one of the chairs that was in front of his desk, the blonde hesitating for a brief moment in the early morning light, before he cautiously stepped forward, pulled the chair out, and sat down, his back straight and erect, his shoulders squared as he gave his Hokage his full attention, already knowing deep within himself where this conversation was going, there was only ever two reasons people were asked to take a seat for, and he knew he wasn't the father of a child.

Steeling himself, the Last Hatake began to speak, his voice solemn and apologetic, not failing to notice the blonde's fists tightening in his lap with the finish of every sentence. "Two weeks ago, while you were still in Kumogakure, Jiraiya came to me with a piece of invaluable information- the location and name of the supposed 'Leader' of the Akatsuki. Through his spy network, he discovered that the man himself was somebody who went by the name of 'Pain', and deferred to themselves as a sovereign God. Against my better judgement, I allowed him to go the village he was believed to be located at to conduct espionage operations, with strict orders to not engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary."

The Hokage paused, it was never easy, breaking the news to the loved ones of others, this time proving no exception, especially considering his own relationships with the Toad Sage and the Kurimuzon Chiratsuki (Crimson Flicker), but he continued on nonetheless. "About a week into his operations, he was discovered, and he was unable to escape the area, forced to engage in combat with this 'Pain'. During the fight, he summoned Fukusaku and Shima to aid him." At this, the silver-haired Kage turned his head slightly to the two toads sitting on his desk, both watching the blonde with saddened eyes as Fukusaku began to speak, taking over for the Godaime.

"I'm not going to mince words with ya, Naruto-boy. We fought with Jiraiya-boy in Sage Mode, an' we lost. He…" Fukusaku's shrill and throaty voice broke off here, it was harder for him to say than he wanted to admit, and looking at the kid that was Jiraiya's pride and joy, his protégé and Godson, the old Toad almost couldn't get it out. Hell, Shima still was in a slight amount of shock over the situation, Jiraiya having become akin to family to the elder toads and all the denizens of Mt. Myōboku, it was as if one of her sons had passed on before her eyes. "Jiraiya didn't make it, Naruto. He fought and gave the bastard hell, but he didn't make it out."

All eyes were on the Last Uzumaki as he sat in the chair in the room, abruptly standing before he leaned forward quickly, slamming his hands on the table, small tears streaking down his face and dripping softly onto the desk below him, staining the wood. His voice came out hard and shaky, permeating slowly from under his bowed head, his hair covering his usually vibrant eyes, bathing them in shadow. Naruto's question was directed at anyone in the room in particular, but rather for all of them. They'd told him everything he needed to know, everything but the one important thing he truly needed to know right now. "Where is he?"

If the entities in the room where taken aback by the dangerous tone in the man's voice, they didn't show it. Kakashi began to speak quietly, attempting to calm the man, and run damage control. Naruto wasn't in control right now, his emotions were ruling him, and in the world of shinobi that was a very dangerous and dark road to follow. Emotions could be used to fuel your attacks and to drive yourself forward true, but if one were to allow themselves to be fully taken over by them, they could lose themselves in the process, walking down a road that others couldn't follow. Naruto was dangerously close to this. However, before he could begin to talk the blonde down, Shima let out a small croak, giving the man all he needed.

"Amegakure." There was a quick course of events that took course within seconds. The first was Fukusaku's astonished look to his wife, wide eyed and half fearful that in one night not only would they lose Jiraiya but Naruto as well. Shima herself looked down, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she pulled her cloak tighter around herself. Kakashi yelled out the blonde's name, using the authoritative voice that was reserved for punishing others, a vain attempt to stop the man from rushing off to do whatever it was he thought he needed to do, though by the time his voice exited his lips the Jounin was already gone, vanishing in a blinding flash of cobalt.

The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant had reached its end.

* * *

" _I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu._ _(A frog in a well does not know the great ocean.)"_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that's all I got for this chapter, guys. We've reached over 100 reviews, in other news, and that shit is awesome, you guys are the best. I'm really glad that I'm managing to keep the majority of you all hooked with the story so far, and am looking forward to continuing to do so in the future. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	22. Life Lived

**Holy. Shit. Guys, this is a milestone for me. As of this chapter, 'Immortalized' will be over 150K in words, making this far, far longer than anything else I have ever written, ever. You guys are the ones that made this happen, and I'm really glad that you all seem to be enjoying the story so far, I can't wait to see how the rest of it turns out or how it ends. Anyways, on to the newest installment!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 **Life Lived**

* * *

He gripped the small glass tightly, before bringing it to his lips in a rush, slamming the drink back and inclining his head as he did so, the alcohol burning his throat and warming his chest as the empty glass was slammed down onto the countertop. The man's usually vibrant eyes were bloodshot, his dull iris's staring blankly ahead. His typically spiky and mostly untamed hair was matted and looked dirty, hanging about his face and seemingly missing the light it used to hold. His face showed signs of recent strife, a decent amount of stubble gracing his face, revealing that he hadn't shaved in days. Everything about the man screamed unkempt, and for once in his life, the blonde couldn't have cared less.

The Last Uzumaki had never been much of a drinker before, but if one were to look at him now there wasn't a damn bit of difference between him and the common drunk, desperately pouring down glass after glass in a hopeless attempt to get rid of their thoughts, if only for a moment. He blinked briefly as the man tending the bar walked by him, the blonde shinobi not having moved in the few minutes since he had finished his drink. Naruto raised his head as the man approached, grunting out a request.

"Another." The bartender, Yakushi Toshiro, raised an eyebrow at his tone, he hadn't been asking, it was a demand. The young man had been here for several hours, coming in and taking a seat on the stool, not moving and never speaking, past giving his drink order and asking for more. Toshiro had no idea how long the man had been there, actually. The Last Uzumaki had been there since before his shift, and seeing as how he was bothering anyone the man hadn't cared. But in these last few hours, the blonde had become increasingly rowdy, especially when he didn't get the alcohol he craved.

"Hey man, I'm going to be closing up shop here in a few minutes…" The tall brunette began, and then nearly flinching as the man on the other end of the counter dimply grunted and thrust his glass forward. He could refuse the man, cut him off and refuse to serve him, but Toshiro knew in his mind's eye that it was a bad idea. He knew how the man was, how could he not? Everyone in the village with half a brain in Konohagakure no Sato knew who the young man was, the famed 'Konoha no Kurimuzon Chiratsuki (Crimson Flicker of Konoha)'. Hell, the women that had been in the bar last night made it very obvious that they knew _exactly_ who thee blonde was.

But unlike any other man that would have drowned himself in their affections and probably even taken one home for the night, but the Naruto that was there did none of those things. Every woman that approached was ignored, the slumped man speaking only to the bartender, and only once, and even then briefly telling someone to kindly 'fuck off', the only warning the person got before they had been thrown outside by the still seated shinobi. Toshiro ducked under the bar, nervously grabbing a bottle and bringing it up to the top, racking his brain for an idea on just how the _fuck_ he was supposed to get this guy out of the bar, when he was only a civilian and Naruto was more or less a living legend.

But, as it would turn out, he had nothing to worry about. By the time that the apprehensive man had gotten back above the counter, the man was gone, the only evidence of his having been there the empty glass that his shaking hands had clutched the entire night. Toshiro looked around the now empty room in slightly confusion, scratching the back of his head as he let out a nervous chuckle, shinobi were creepy, sometimes. But he had never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so after taking the man's glass and tossing it absentmindedly into the sink, he grabbed a small cloth and began wiping down the counter, whistling a jaunty tune as he cleaned up for the day.

It wouldn't be until his next shift that he'd notice a bottle was missing from the storage area behind the bar, the brand being the exact same that the Hero of the Leaf had been drinking before.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _It had only been minutes since Naruto had heard the horrible news regarding his Godfather, and already he was outside the village, jumping from tree to tree, his movements a blur and his speed unmatched. Fury and vengeance were his drive and his motive, both of them riding shotgun on his ride of retaliation. One thought continued to echo through the blondes mind as he moved through the night, dancing with and becoming one with the shadows as he moved, disappearing through the leaves and the trees as if he were death itself, come to strike down the unworthy and non-repentant._

 _Alone. He was alone in the world. His Mother and Father, dead on the day of his birth. Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi, his adoptive siblings, murdered by Kusagakure shinobi. Their sensei and his personal friend Ebisu, cornered and brutally slain by the same. The Sandaime Hokage, his pseudo-grandfather, killed by the now dead Orochimaru. Tayuya, his first love and the first person to reach out and help pull him from his loneliness, murdered by her own sister. And now… Jiraiya, his Godfather, the man that had raised him as his own, killed by the bastard he himself was now on his way to meet._

 _This fucker fancied himself to be the newest coming of Kami? Naruto didn't believe that for a single god damn second, but he was more than happy to help arrange a meeting between the two. He knew next to nothing about the man, just that he went by the name of 'Pain', and that he was strong enough to kill a handicapped Toad Sage, but that was fine by the blonde. He already knew that he was stronger, much stronger than his Godfather, and if this piece of shit wanted to fight then he would make sure that he got his money's worth. The blonde thought of nothing else as he traveled, and so deep, so entrenched into his own mind was he that the Last Uzumaki didn't even register the chakra signature that appeared to his left, launching itself at him._

 _The Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato went flying from the punch that connected with his cheek, his face turning away from the blow that he had never seen coming. As he flew through the air, already adjusting his path and correcting his fall, he cursed himself lightly. He was an elite Jounin for Kami's sake, one that had fought and won against several Jinchuriki and high ranked ninja, for him to let his guard down and get so caught up in his own world was…unacceptable to say the least. Naruto landed softly, one of his weathered hands twitching towards the hilt of the sheathed Kaze no Karitoriki that was slung behind his back, before his eyes locked with those across the field, the unmistakable blood red of the Sharingan staring back into his own azure eyes._

" _Sasuke?" It was more of a question than anything else. Of all the people that the blonde would have expected to come after him, the Uchiha was one of the last people he would have anticipated, with something more along the lines of either Kiba, or even Shino taking precedent (it mildly occurred to the man now that he didn't have many close friends in Konoha, but he pushed it to the back of his mind for now). The stoic man stood across from him, walking out of the shadows and into the moonlight, now standing only a few feet away from the blonde, before he began speaking in a low voice, his tone dark, and serious as was the standard with him._

" _Naruto." His voice was solid and unwavering as he stood across from his friend, for that is what the two were to each other. To call it anything less would be an injustice to their relationship. The two young men may have been rivals when they were younger, and that rivalry may have continued on until now, but things had changed over the years. War specifically, changes people and their relationships. The two Jounin had watched each other's back on countless occasions, relied upon each other, bled, sweat, and cried with each other. No mortal man wouldn't be changed by the experience, or moved by the atrocities that they had seen or committed._

 _It was for these reasons that the next few moments were critical, and why they didn't honestly surprise the Uchiha matriarch in the slightest as his friend and brother glared back into his own cold crimson eyes, after all, he would have done the same several years ago, before his outlook had been changed. "Get the fuck out of my way. I'm going to Ame, Pain is going to die." The blonde may not have realized it, but those words were nearly the exact same as the one's that Sasuke himself had uttered about Itachi. But that was fine with him, he'd try and talk this out, but if push came to shove, he wasn't a slouch. Sasuke was no fool, he knew that Naruto would likely win in a fight, but that certainly wouldn't stop him from trying. He owed it to the man._

" _Naruto, look at yourself. You're not even fully dressed, you're wearing sweats and a jacket, your only weapon being your sword, if you're going to do this, do it right." The raven-haired man paused, choosing his next words very carefully as he spoke, the blonde before him appearing to listen, though he was unsure if his words were hitting home with the blank reaction he was getting from the man. "I'm not saying you don't deserve vengeance, I more than anyone else in the village think that your intentions are justified, but you go there now, as you are, all you're going to end up doing is meeting up with Jiraiya again- because you'll be put in the ground alongside him."_

 _There was a slight pause as the two men stared down each other, before the reality began to finally sink in with Naruto what was happening. His swift action had been to postpone his grief, to give him a mission and a purpose to fulfill so he didn't have to face the fact that now he was well and truly_ alone. _It was like a final string had been plucked, ringing out softly in the night, before the twang died down, and Naruto finally lost it. "You know what they say, don't you, Sasuke? When two Shinobi are powerful enough, they become able to read each other's thoughts, simply through an exchange of fists. Without ever uttering a single word, get it? Tell me…Do you know my thoughts? Can you tell what's on my mind?!"_

 _And with that, the blonde shot forward like a rocket, his eyes wide and steely blue in color. His revenge was going to be had, regardless of who he had to go through, Pain was going to rue the day he took his Sensei. Unfortunately for the blonde shinobi, Sasuke had other ideas. While it was true that he was here under the Hokage's orders, there was more to it than that. Naruto was his friend, and now beyond that, the two shared a bond that could only be felt through equivalent loss. Both men had lost everything they had, their entire families and all relations vanishing into the abyss of death, it was a bond that could never be broken, and one that only very rarely comes into existence in the first place. But aside from that, there was a debt to repay, and if anything the Uchiha hated being in someone's debt._

 _So with a blazing Sharingan, he rocketed forward, his fist outstretched as he launched himself towards his friend, screaming at the man as the two engaged in a pierce Taijutsu battle, though it was unrefined and the techniques were sloppy, the fight quickly becoming more of a brawl than anything else. "Remember who you are, Naruto! Remember what you told me, all those years ago on the battlefield in Kusa?" The blonde in question gave only another low growl as his response as he ducked under one of the swings from the raven-haired man, before lurching to the side and throwing a wild haymaker of his own. This was a fight of pure emotion, not of skill. One of willpower against logic, rampant feelings versus rational thought._

" _You told me that if I kept charging into things with emotion as my guide, all I'd ever wind up doing was dying! And look at_ you!" _The crimson eyed man punctuated his last word with a strike to the blondes face, a punch that was mirrored on his own, both men going skidding back several feet from the sheer strength and muscle mass behind the blow. Their actions were reflections of the other, both men rising from one knee to both their feet, squaring their shoulders and raising their right hand wipe the small amount of blood trickling form their mouth, Sasuke uttering a single word in the process. "Hypocrite."_

 _Naruto, looked up at the man once more, before they both shot forward once more, their fists raised, as the blonde began to yell at the man before him in conflict, anger and a hint of sorrow. "Just shut the fuck up for once! What the hell do you know about it?! You had your family, I had nothing until he came along and took me in! I was on my own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it?! Huh?! I'm suffering now because I had that singular tie and now it's gone! How on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose the only thing that you ever had?!" The Uchiha's eyes narrowed, and both men's fists met the other in a battle of dominance, before a brawl ensued, Naruto fighting through tears as Sasuke ducked under one of his arms, slid a leg under his own, and delivered a final, crushing blow to the blondes face, knocking him back and onto the ground._

" _I'm gonna let that last bit slide Naruto, because I know the road you're traveling down. You and other's helped pull me from that road, and it's because of that gesture that I'm here. Look at yourself, it's pathetic. 'The Hero of the Leaf', crying like a child, his ass handed to him by someone that isn't even in his league yet. If you can't beat me, how the fuck are you going to kill Pain?" Sasuke paused here briefly, walking towards the fallen and sullen man, letting a grim smile grace his face as he was able to see his words striking true and ringing home with the blonde shinobi. It was unfortunate, but he knew the man, and tough love was his best bet for bringing his ass home._

" _What happened that night...I was so young. I thought it was all merely an illusion. I desperately wanted to believe that I was only trapped in a horrible Genjutsu. But there was no mistake, I was trapped in reality! My eyes are not the same as they once were…" He trailed off, looking down at the man at his feet, before offering his hand to the fallen man and speaking once more. "I will acknowledge that you're strong. Because…You are someone who knows the same pain of loneliness that I do. And, that pain makes a person stronger, so I offer you this. When you go to fight Pain, I'll follow your lead, but in return, when I go to avenge m clan, you follow mine."_

 _There was a brief moment of silence in the clearing, before cobalt eyes met crimson, and the, slowly and almost uncertainly, Naruto raised his hand, grasping Sasuke's tightly in the dim light of the moon._

 _End Flashback_

* * *

It's been said before that the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world, but he didn't know if that were true or not. In everything he had ever done, he'd always given everything he had to give, and yet, it still wasn't enough. No matter how strong he got, how fast he became, how many techniques he mastered or enemies he struck down, his loved ones still were cut down around him. Naruto had no idea, just what in the hell he was supposed to do, how he was supposed to carry on now, in his eyes everything he had had been taken from him. His family, his closest friends, his teacher, the only thing left was his life.

Sure, the blonde Jounin had others too, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Shino and others, but at this point it was a moot point. Would he be sad if they were to kick the bucket? Sure, absolutely he would be, but it wasn't the same as losing the only shred of family he had left, though that wasn't quite true, as Tsunade was something like a grandmother, or a great aunt, though the two weren't very close at all. He blinked briefly, not even bothering to take notice of the new presence that had walked up next to him, the taller person standing beside him quietly, the very woman that had just been in his thoughts appearing as though he had summoned her.

The two blondes and distant relatives stood quietly next to the memorial stone for a while, neither speaking as they stood. It was a terrible tragedy, to lose someone like the Toad Sage, not just for the assistance that he gave Konoha, but for his sheer character and nature alone. Jiraiya was truly a man that didn't come around very much, once in a century maybe. The late Toad Sage had generally been a light-hearted and gregarious man, making jokes at his own expense and giving a mirthful laugh about it afterwards. In his interactions with others, he liked to pretend to be smug or selfish, upsetting them so that he could further rile them up with his humor.

Even when engaging in combat with hated enemies he never missed an opportunity to be flashy and over-the-top, striking kabuki poses and giving dramatic self-introductions; though his intros were often interrupted in some way, and the man was always quick to express his annoyance at whoever was responsible. Friends and foes alike were fond of Jiraiya for his eccentricities, admiring that somebody so seemingly irreverent could in actuality be an extremely competent shinobi. Yet, despite everything, he was deeply loyal to Konoha, no matter how often he was away from it, not hesitating to threaten to kill even Tsunade if she ever betrayed the village, despite their long history. The man had even been selected for the position of Hokage, though he felt that his personality quirks render him incapable of performing this duty as well as others, as he either lacked the responsibility for the position or he had, through his past infractions and failures, proven unworthy of such an honor.

And then, on top of everything else the man was a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal. His favorite hobby being spying on women while they bathed, a passion he flaunted openly and in fact took pride in because of how infrequently he was caught. Despite this, Jiraiya disliked it when Naruto Uzumaki referred to him as 'Ero-Sennin' in front of others. But none of these qualities showed how wise the man had become in his worldly travels, or the father-figure he had become to the blonde that stood before the pseudo-grave that bore his name, and the names of so many others. The comfortable silence between the two was broken as the only remaining member of the Sannin began to speak.

"There's something that the old pervert once said to me, and it's stuck with me all through the many years I've been around, Naruto. He said, 'What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!', and I think, that to a degree he was right." The woman paused briefly, before she reached inside her robes, procuring a small flask and almost hungrily taking a drink from it, sighing softly as she continued. "I differ from him in that ideology, though. In my opinion, it's the memories that make the man, and the recollections of others that define him. But on that same line… how do we go on living, now that he's gone?"

The large and busty woman looked down to the man at her side, and noted that he still hadn't even bothered to look at her, not even moved to acknowledge her presence as she spoke, nothing, and that was only slightly worrying. _"_ You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts, of all the people in this village, I understand that more than anyone. I spent years, years running from my past, drowning myself in alcohol and gambling until I had almost nothing left, that was how Jiraiya found me, broken and crying-yet he still brought me back, even as I was." She paused once again, taking a drink and wiping away a tear for the past man.

"In the darkest times, hope is something we give ourselves. That is the true meaning of inner strength. Sometimes life is like a dark tunnel, and you can't always see the light at the end of it, but if you just keep moving, keep forcing yourself onward and forward, clawing and biting and fighting your way to the end, you will always eventually come to a better place. It took me over a decade to learn that lesson, but hopefully you pick up on things quicker than I do." The woman gave a final glance to the man at her side, before she said her final words, turning on her heel and walking away, having already come to say what she needed to. "Don't spit on his memory by throwing away your life just to avenge him, that isn't what Jiraiya lived for."

With that, the woman was gone, her piece having been said, leaving her fellow blonde to mourn his Godfather, though now the seeds of thought had been planted in his mind. Naruto stared at the memorial stone, at the name he had so delicately and carefully carved into the smooth black rock, each letter having given him a memory of the man as he forced the knife into the rock, from learning the Rasengan, to helping the man with his research. The Jounin's gaze hardened, his mind clearing for a brief moment as he looked at the rock. Pain would pay, but not quite yet, the time wasn't right, and he wouldn't sacrifice himself in the name of vengeance. He muttered softly to himself, so quietly that it may as well not have even been said, a small line of water making its way down his cheek.

"It's a horrible day for rain, don't you think?"

* * *

Two figures landed on the top of the Hokage Monument, standing lightly on the head of the Yondaime Hokage as they supervised the village. It was the first time that one of them had ever entered Konohagakure no Sato, yet for the other he was returning to his home, akin to a long vacation or mission. However, there was a great difference in returning home from a mission, and going to one's old home in pursuit of new orders, and the shorter of the two men would make sure of that, though he already knew just how gravely true the sentiment was. Still though, it was… refreshing… to see such a familiar sight, to take in all the intricacies of the village he had lived in and once loved for so long, now changed, scarred and different in the many years that had passed.

The eyes of the public would soon be drawn to the man on the left of the duo, a sight by any means. The man was quite tall, and very muscular, the tallest member of his organization, in fact. He had a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale, blue-gray skin. His eyes were small, round, white orbs, with 3 sets of curved facial markings under each one. Under his clothing, gills could be seen on his shoulders, and sharp triangular teeth jutted out of his mouth, each one sharper than a razor. The large man's hair was even styled in the form of a shark fin, a testament to his predatory visage. Each fingernail on both hands was crowned in dark-purple nail polish.

Underneath the large cloak he donned, a distinctive black one with red clouds, he was shirtless, though he wore dark pants and a waist guard, with striped arm and leg-warmers typical of his former village. Upon his head sat a modified version of Kirigakure's forehead protector, which covered his ears as well, though there was a distinctive slash going through the village's insignia, signifying his cut ties with the nation. He also wore a brown sash across the front and back of his cloak, its purpose to hold the large bandaged weapon that was nearly as tall as he was, slung across his back, in place. He wore his yellow ring on his left ring finger, bearing the kanji for "south" upon it. His identity was unmistakable, anyone with a bingo book knew Hoshigaki Kisame from a glance.

The man next to him, while no less intimidating, was quite smaller in stature when compared to the large hulking shark-man. He had onyx eyes under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs, his jet-black hair pulled back in a low ponytail, his face framed with center-parted bangs that extended to his chin. His hair had grown longer over the years, but it was still the same hairstyle he had kept from when he was a child living in the very village they were infiltrating. Even more, like his younger brother, he was considered very handsome, many women becoming infatuated with him in his travels

The cloak's high collar would obscured his ponytail, but it was underneath the cloak that he differed from his appointed partner, Kisame. As the shorter man was now, his cloak was unbuttoned to a mid-chest level, his left arm resting there, rather than in the sleeve. Under his cloak he wore clothes similar to the rest of his organization: mesh armor with navy accents under an identical T-shirt with a simple white belt around the waist finished off with dark blue pants, bandages taping it off at the edges to his ankles. On his right ring finger was his ring, which was crimson in color and bore the kanji for "vermilion". Purple nail polish covered his fingernails as well as his toes, his ensemble finished off with a necklace that had three silver rings with red gems inside them. Yet he too, was unmistakable, especially here in his home village.

Uchiha Itachi had returned to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and there was truly only one reason why he would step upon its soil.

* * *

 **Author's** **Note:**

 **Alright, bit of a shorter chapter tonight, actually the shortest one that I've written since Chapter 5. Don't worry though, it conveyed everything I needed it to, and the next chapter should be pretty long, the one's that I wright with combat scenes usually are on. And for those of you who are going to get mad at Sasuke whooping up on Naruto, take note that Naruto was damn near delirious and hysterical at that point, and it was more or less a brawl, in addition to Sasuke being a fairly strong ninja in his own right. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	23. Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome

**Welcome back to another installment of 'Immortalized'! Shit, you guys got me blushing with some of the reviews you leave, and then others have me laughing my ass off, seriously, that stuff is equal parts funny and awesome. Now, onto something a little more serious, the fight last Chapter between Sasuke and Naruto was a one-time deal. In the world I've created, Naruto would wreck Sasuke any day of the week. However, that being said, in the last chapter Naruto was a complete emotional wreck, and the fight was a brawl between him and someone who was in control. ControlPower any day of the week. Anyways…**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome**

* * *

"Naruto, it's time you came with us."

It hadn't taken the two missing-nin long to find The Last Uzumaki, but then again, he wasn't exactly hiding. His chakra signature wasn't concealed, he wasn't hiding with a bunker or anything else, he simply stood in front of the memorial stone, dressed in his typical ninja garb, he had been to report to the Hokage later in the day and didn't see the merit in changing his clothes throughout his day. The man stood stoically with his back to the two ninja, who merely watched him as he finished talking to the gravestone in front of him, pulling the hand that had been resting against its surface back towards his body almost reverently, before he stood from the ground he'd been kneeling on, raising his head in the process.

"Sorry, Ero-Sennin, I'll have to cut our talk short, looks like I've got some business to take care of." The blonde kept his back to the two men, before he inclined his head to the side, turning just enough and raising his voice just enough so that they could hear his voice, a low growl. "Not here." That was all the more that was said before the man channeled his chakra to his legs, launching himself up the side of a building, and began to leap and bound across the city as he moved, the two cloaked members of Akatsuki hot on his heels, though none were in a particular rush. Itachi seemed impassive about the whole deal, and Kisame… he looked like a shark that had just tasted blood, it would have been quite comical, the difference between the two peers, had the situation not been lethal in nature.

From a young age, Itachi had been quiet and insightful, showing noticeable maturity for his age and knowledge on how to deal with every situation. At the same time, he had been naïve as a child in many real-world scenarios though he demonstrated the willingness to learn from his peers on how to differentiate situations. He had and continued to live at a distance, observing individuals and ideas without getting directly involved so that he could fully understand and interpret them. Although this approach prevented him from becoming close with many people, it enabled him to think and act without prejudice or preconceptions, instead evaluating things strictly on their own merits.

It was often that the young man would think about shinobi and origins of the village and its future, his own conceptions of it becoming twisted and foul. For this reason, he never became arrogant about his own abilities or accomplishments; to which, most views or statements he made were usually well-based, seeing the situation for what it was. Born from this philosophy, the stoic man held no self-righteous loyalty to his clan that was so common among the Uchiha; though at one point he loved his family and wanted the best for them, there were more important things to him personally. Itachi's dream wasn't to become Hokage, or a successful ninja, like others had thought for the raven haired man, no it was so much more than that.

He trained tirelessly to improve himself as quickly as he could and subjected himself to all of the shinobi life's inconveniences without complaint for the simple motivation of becoming stronger, becoming the best. And then, the Uchiha Massacre had happened, where Itachi had, without remorse, murdered every member of his clan save for his younger brother, with only a single goal in mind, testing his capacity and unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan, though the latter didn't happen until he slaughtered his parents. But that hadn't been the end of it for the sadist, he needed to push his younger brother in the proper direction in order for the last aspect of his plan to come into play.

To force Sasuke in this direction, Itachi had withheld the true reason for his actions and instead took on the persona of a man who had no love for his younger brother. Per this persona, Itachi cared for Sasuke only because of the eyes that he could take to gain the legendary Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. His actions in Akatsuki were meant to reinforce this visage, and whenever he had run into his younger brother over the years he would taunt his weakness and encourage him to get strong enough to kill him, all in the effort for the child to unlock his own Mangekyō Sharingan, which he could then steal for his own. So far, the plan was working perfectly, all he needed was for Sasuke to awaken his new eyes.

But the Kin-Slayer's apathetic attitude on everything was nothing compared to the sick nature of his partner. Kisame loved to fight, in simple terms. Sadistic was an understatement with the large man and he frequently demonstrated no hesitation in mutilating his opponents, even going so far as to suggest to Itachi as they ran that they cut off Naruto's legs to make him easier to carry and to prevent him from escaping on foot. However, despite his aggressive nature, the shark-like man was also very perceptive and of a keen mind in battle, able to deduce the basics behind his opponent's technique and react to any potential danger he is aware of, or so he had shown with his previous engagements.

Originally when the two had first been partnered, Kisame had warned an equally hostile Itachi to be wary of him. Over time, however, the large man and his stoic partner became two of the few members of Akatsuki that actually got along well with each other, despite the fact they had opposite personalities. The only common ground between both missing-nin was that they had betrayed those close to them, leaving behind kin and country in search of something more. Kisame was perfectly aware of his weaknesses and shortcomings and in turn, was also quite conscious of the fact that his partner being perfectly capable of compensating for him.

Despite his pride, the former member of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen acknowledged Itachi as the stronger and more intelligent of the duo, evident by his earlier statement to the man that he himself was no match for Jiraiya, but perhaps the Uchiha might survive a one-on-one encounter with the Sannin. Yet, the man also had a playful and morbid sense of humor and would often make light of serious situations while sporting a sadistic grin. This trait would even show during his fights as he would often mock his opponents to a horrid extent, never letting up even in victory. These ideas and twisted morals would grow to become his philosophy, the code of which he'd lived for the last several years.

It didn't take long for the trio to reach their destination, a forested area a few miles from the walls of Konoha, the three men dodging and evading all the groups of ninja and civilians in their path. It wasn't really confusing as to why the two missing-nin had agreed to the blondes request, it was pretty basic actually. If they had fought the man in the center of the village where they had first found him, the ensuing destruction would have brought on all the ninja in the village, an army versus to two ninja. No matter how strong someone was, this wasn't an optimal situation, so the two had agreed to follow the man, many of the other Jinchuriki they had faced having asked the same of their attackers.

The Human-Sacrifices had had differing reasons for bringing their would-be attackers away from their village, the different ideologies being as varied as the beasts that they carried. Some had done it out of love for their village, such as Yugito, the Jinchuriki of the Nibi. The formerly alive woman had led her attackers out of the village in an effort to protect it from collateral, allowing her to cut loose. The Jinchuriki of the Gobi however, had brought them out in an effort to test his own strength and capabilities, though in the end, he had ultimately lost, being subdued on the battlefield and having his Bijuu forcefully torn from his body, killing him in the process, just as all the others had been.

The Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune though, was another matter altogether, the reason evident on his eyes as he turned to face the two men that now stood before him. No, Naruto wasn't here out of respect for his village, or out of fear of hurting them, the blonde shinobi was here to he could really cut loose, and not be interrupted. The Jounin knew himself, and he knew that he desperately, violently, threateningly _needed_ this. He needed a chance to feel the sweet rush of combat, the sugary kiss of death upon his lips as he fought, dodging and evading attacks, falling under, jumping over, living by instinct. He needed this, and if it was in part defending the village, and in part fighting and hurting the organization that took his godfather from him, then so be it.

Naruto looked from the grinning visage of the large and shark-like man that was Kisame, to the stoic and impassive Uchiha, focusing on the man's shoulders as he already knew that his Sharingan was active, not willing to subjugate himself to a Genjutsu before the battle had even begun. The former Kiri-Nin slowly reached behind him, clasping his hand around his sword before bringing it to bear rapid and roughly, slamming the tip into the ground in front of, and slightly off to the right of him, his pointed teeth blazing in the sunlight, clearly excited about fighting another swordsman. The Last Uzumaki's cobalt orbs narrowed as he looked at the two men, mentally running through all the information he had on them, before speaking in a monotone, annoyed voice.

"I think I'll start." That was the only warning that the two men got as Naruto launched himself forward, Kaze no Karitoriki falling into his hand with practiced ease as he moved, a clone falling into place on either side of him, all three moving to engage their targets. This fight wasn't going to be a pretty one, it was going to be brutal, he was going to take his time, he was going to enjoy it and meticulously tear his enemies apart. And then finally, at the end of it all, he would drag the battered, broken body of Itachi back to Konoha, he had made a promise to Sasuke, and though he'd failed in his previous endeavors, the blonde would do his damndest to keep them. That didn't mean he was going to pull any punches, though, both men were S-Rank for a reason.

Kisame had gotten his sword up quickly, easily blocking the overhead strike from the Jounin as he flew through the air, his attention completely focused on the shinobi that was his target as his partner engaged the two clones before him in a quick battle of Taijutsu. It was soon revealed that the blonde had packed his clones with far more chakra than normal, both clones sustaining several hits, though they were landing some of their own on the Uchiha prodigy. Though Itachi was certainly very deadly, Naruto, and by proxy his clones, were no slouches either, and he was more than capable of holding his own against either one of the two men, though fighting the two together would definitely prove to be a challenge.

The blonde grinned as he ducked under a sword swing from Kisame, dropping his weight and spinning, kicking out with his left foot, driving it into the blocking forearm of Itachi, the talented man having already dealt with his two clones, before diving in to attack in tandem with his partner. The three began a brief and rapid series of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu spats, Naruto managing to keep both older men on their toes through his clever techniques and through rapid use of the Hiraishin and Kage Bunshin, alternating between the two as he moved, a slash here, parry there, dodge under a swing from the swordsman, lash out with a spinning fist towards the traitor, every move a follow up from the last, his mind working overtime to come up with something for the Uchiha, for he already had a plan to kill Kisame, he just needed the proper moment to activate his trap.

The blondes attack strategy so far was near perfection, keeping Itachi close enough so that he couldn't utilize his large repertoire of Ninjutsu, always focusing on anything but the man's eyes to avoid his lethal Genjutsu, but at the same time, leaving Kisame at a distance great enough that the man's gigantic sword was out of reach, yet still too close to perform any of his highly destructive techniques. That isn't to say that the younger shinobi had the two on the ropes, though. Far from it, none of the three were breaking a sweat yet, and the shark-nin seemed to even be enjoying himself, the small cuts he had received at the end of Kaze no Karitoriki not even bothering him.

There was a brief clash, and it was only due to his mastery over Kage Bunshin that Naruto didn't die at that very moment. On one side stood the blonde warrior, his prized katana held across his body, blade pointing towards the ground, the large broad body of Samehada across it, its owner forcing it down upon the man, both men visibly straining. On the other side, with its back to his master was a Kage Bunshin of the feared blonde of Konoha, a kunai in either hand held in a cross block, guarding against the tanto that was held in Itachi's free hand.

But then, of all things to happen, the Last Uzumaki smirked, vanishing in a flash of his signature cobalt, the clone behind him giving the Kin-Slayer a sinister look even as Kisame was thrown off balance by his massive sword slamming into the ground. The clone mouthed a single word to the Uchiha, the man's eyes widening as he became able to visibly see the chakra forming on the clone, right before it exploded in his face, Itachi getting out of the way at the last second with an extremely fast shunshin, crows billowing in his wake as he moved. He didn't even need to worry about his partner, something like that wouldn't even dent the large man.

The two Akatsuki member's teamwork was definitely unrefined, that much was for sure. The duo, while used to operating with and working alongside each other, had very little actual combat experience fighting as a tag team, and thus during this fight, even with as little as it had progressed so far, they were likely to get in each other's way- an advantage Naruto had counted on and was sure to press. Of course, the idea to simply fight alone had come up, and if the two were fighting to merely kill their opponent, it would have been much more viable. Unfortunately though, this was not the case, so the clandestine organization had to take a different approach, especially when their target was the Uzumaki Heir.

The man was no ordinary shinobi, that much was for certain. His accomplishments were long and thorough, ranging from his time in ANBU as Captain of the Seventh Division, to personally besting not one, but two Jinchuriki in their full released forms, defeating a Bijuu in its full released state, and then there was the slight addition of his having fought and won against several S-Rank missing-nin, all of which was accomplished without using his tenants chakra. It was truly an impressive rapport, and to further the bad situation, the two men in combat with him currently couldn't even make use or their more deadly techniques, wanting to take him alive.

Uzumaki Naruto had no such restriction when it came to them, though.

* * *

The Uchiha Compound was a dark and somewhat dreary place, ever since the attack all those years ago that had claimed the lives of so many men, women, and children. The streets that were once filled with smiling, happy children were now empty, devoid of life. The stalls that had once been tended by the adults of the clan, selling fruits and vegetables and all sorts of other things from trinkets to tinkers, were barren, not a whisper passing through them but for the breeze. The fields and areas dedicated to the training of the young were empty, the ground not having been scarred there in ages, save for one that was adjacent to a specific house, on one lone corner in the walled-off compound.

The house in question was the long since renovated and cleaned home of Uchiha Sasuke, who had absolutely and vehemently refused to leave his home, despite the horrid events that had transpired there. Through hard work and sheer force of will, the stoic Uchiha had managed to make great strides in overcoming the crippling fear and anxiety that used to grip him whenever he would walk the streets of his old home, let alone entering the actual house that he had witnessed his parent's murder in. Yet, in his heart of hearts, he knew he would never be able to truly overcome that night, not until his clan had been avenged and the souls of the damned laid to rest.

These thoughts all flashed through the raven-haired man's mind as his eyes snapped open like a bolt of lightning, his heart rate picking up though he still hadn't even moved. The last loyal Uchiha would have recognized that chakra signature anywhere, day or night, it hadn't changed and it was ingrained into his mind and soul like a tattoo on his skin. Directly after the signature of his brother, he felt an additional two presences, though they were very well masked, and while he couldn't make out one of them, he recognized the other as well, years of working with the man granting him familiarity over others. There wasn't even a question on whether or not he was going to help, his mind was already made up.

Carefully, moving ever so slightly and gently so as not to wake the sleeping woman at his side, Sasuke got out of the bed, his naked form moving briefly across the room as he hastily got dressed in his combat attire, every second counting as he moved. He was rushing still, and it only took him a minute or so, but he was dressed, armored up, and was about to walk out the door before he stopped, turning around and walking to the side of the bed, briefly. His onyx eyes danced down the form of the sleeping Sakura that lay in his bed, his mind briefly wandering back to all the times the pinkette had been there for him.

She had been there when their team first formed, and though he had originally thought her annoying, she quickly proved her worth as a shinobi when her 'fan-girl' phase wore off, quickly growing into the role of a support and medical specialist, and it was then that Sasuke had begun to notice her. After that, there had been multiple instances of her helping him home after he trained himself to exhaustion, days of where he had been haunted by the past his brother had wrought, only to find her passed out next to his bed, her chakra depleted from trying to ease his suffering through medical Ninjutsu, and eventually, the woman had managed to fight her way into the Avenger's heart.

It was silly, Naruto teased them constantly about being a couple, and in reality, the two had been together for quite some time now, though they still had elected to keep it a secret for the time being, not wanting to mess up a team dynamic. The two had even recently decided to take their relationship to the next level, and had begun sleeping together, the slim woman more often than not staying over at the Uchiha Compound, falling asleep after their nighttime activities. Sasuke felt a spike of chakra, and cursed lightly under his breath, maybe he was getting soft, but he'd have rather stayed in bed with Sakura than go out to fight at the moment.

He let out a quick and quiet sigh, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on the forehead that the kunoichi was so self-conscious over, that he himself actually liked, before he vanished in a shunshin. The onyx eyes of the Jounin rapidly morphed into the three tomoe of a fully matured Sharingan, the iris's going from black to a deep bloody crimson as he moved, his mind refocused on the task at hand, his chakra already building within his body as he channeled it, forcing himself to moved faster, and cursing his blonde friend the whole way there.

Seriously, sometimes Naruto had the worst timing.

* * *

Kisame was having the time of his life.

The original Naruto was nowhere to be found, but at the moment, the monster of the Hoshigaki clan couldn't have cared less, as long as the enemies kept coming, he'd keep killing. The clones were coming at him in droves, some launching jutsu, some attempting to battle the legendary swordsman in Kenjutsu, anything they could think of, really. And so far, due to his own skill and the stoic man that was Itachi watching his back, they had been unable to deal anything of lasting damage to him, or his short partner.

Itachi, in the meantime, wasn't necessarily worried, but he was definitely wary on their adversary. The younger man was clearly planning something, though the Uchiha didn't yet know what it was. So far all that had happened was a seemingly endless army of clones had attacked them from all sides, effectively keeping them corralled from the continuous assault, every time one of them attempted to leave the are two or more clones blocked them off with some form of jutsu, and there were enough of them to block all avenues of approach and retreat, mildly angering the raven haired man as he fought back against the never ending army of Naruto.

And then, just as suddenly as it had all began, the never ending attacks of clones ended, and all was silent for a brief moment, right up until the ground under Kisame exploded, the Last Uzumaki himself bursting from the ground, a Rasengan in his hand as he struck out at the shark-like man, missing by mere centimeters as the man backpedaled out of the way, Itachi already in motion. However, the blonde made no move to counter, and when Itachi's hand slipped under his guard and hit the boy's shoulder, it _stopped._ Stopped as in it didn't moved, held back by nothing more than skin, and that's when he noticed it. Naruto's eyes were no longer azure, now being yellow, with toad-like irises, a distinctive orange pigmentation around the edges of his orbs.

This time, the usually controlled Uchiha was unable to hold back the light curse that fell under his breath as he vanished in a rapid shunshin, only just escaping the follow up blow that had come from the blonde. This wasn't good, not good at all. The feared 'Sage Mode' was something that had made Jiraiya legendary in his own right, and though the Uchiha had never faced it in person, he knew it to be very dangerous, and the fact that the blonde shinobi had just brought it forward somewhat early on in the fight meant that he had just kicked it up a notch, and definitely wasn't holding back on his attacks.

Sage Mode had a number of advantages and disadvantages that he knew of, and there were probably even more of that he had no clue about. Itachi ran through an extremely fast mental breakdown of the technique as he dodged yet another attack from the shinobi that was his target, moving out of the way as Kisame moved into the fray to fight as well. 'Sage Mode' was an empowered state that could only be entered by blending natural energy with one's chakra, creating Senjutsu chakra. It allowed users to tap into the natural force of the world, opening up new techniques to them and even allowing them to power up their existing moves with the new Senjutsu chakra.

Furthermore, the user's physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, perception, and durability are enhanced. The user's Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu become more powerful with the addition of being able to mold the natural energy within themselves. His mind was only relatively put at ease at the two major disadvantages of the technique, though. One, in order to gather enough natural energy to initiate the transformation into Sage Mode, the user must remain perfectly still, leaving them vulnerable, and two, because the user needs to move during combat, the Senjutsu chakra cannot be replenished mid fight, which means the user can't stay within this state for extended periods of time.

So in theory, all he had to do was wait for Naruto to wear down his Senjutsu reserves, and all would be fine, however he doubted it would be that easy, but that's what he had his own trump cards for. By this time, hulking Hoshigaki had recovered and repositioned himself near his partner, the battle taking a brief lull as the three fighters sized each other up, but that was all and in a split second the battle had begun again in earnest, a wild and almost happy look in the Last Uzumaki's eye as he moved, seemingly vanishing and reappearing again and again around the battlefield as he once again began engaging his enemies.

Just as Kisame had found himself in a rhythm of attack from the unpredictable blonde ninja, the attacks stopped, before the man himself appeared over the battlefield, both men under him staring up. Itachi rushed to form the hand seals for his own attack, but found himself a mere half second too slow as with his enhanced speed and skill from Sage Mode, Naruto called out his own technique. "Senpō: Fūton Sunabokori! (Sage Art Wind Release: Dust Cloud!)". He briefly held the substance in his mouth, before exhaling a massive cloud of dust from his orifice, thick enough that it was capable of blocking his enemies' vision completely, even Itachi's fully matured Sharingan couldn't pierce the veil that permeated the area.

However, this handicap didn't apply to the caster of the technique, his already enhanced senses now becoming near superhuman and allowing him to move through the mist, his hearing and sense of smell guiding his path as he made his way towards the former member of the seven swordsmen. Unfortunately, his path was blocked by the prodigal Uchiha, and though neither of the two men could see, they began exchanging in a fierce Taijutsu/Kenjutsu battle, with Naruto beginning to pull ahead of the shorter man, before the traitor leapt back from him, his hands already flashing through seals to a very familiar jutsu, molding his chakra and unleashing in on the area.

"Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!) The effect was immediate, the enormous gust of wind slamming into and through the dust cloud that had covered the area, Itachi's third affinity putting in a huge amount of work as it dissipated the technique, scattering the ashen dust to the surrounding trees. He was only given a brief second of respite, though, for as soon as the final laps of air had left his lips, the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was upon him, swinging in at him with a wild haymaker that he would have seen coming a mile away. Years of experience weren't even needed to dodge the attack, and as the man leaned just out of reach of the passing fist, he'd realize his folly.

The Kin-Slayer watched in seemingly slow motion as the blonde's fist passed by his face, missing by mere inches, and then, right before he could move to counterattack, something in the rough shape of a fist slammed into his cheek. It felt as though he had been hit by one of the chakra enhanced punches of the Slug Princess, Tsunade, and before he had even recovered from the attack he knew that his jaw was absolutely fractured, if not broken. It didn't matter how much conditioning one were to put themselves through, a human body could only take so much punishment, and he hadn't been reinforcing his body with chakra like he usually did during a Taijutsu brawl. All said, the Uchiha was lucky that the blow hadn't taken his head off.

Naruto landed on his feet lightly, watching as Itachi bounced away before righting himself, and turning to face him once more, not failing to notice that Kisame hadn't attacked in a minute, before he allowed a grin to grace his lips. He had to admit, when he had first heard of the Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kata) from Jiraiya, he had been skeptical, but after being able to put it into practice he was more than happy with the results. The mechanics behind the Kawazu Kumite were actually quite simple for such a devastating technique. The natural energy used by the practitioner to generate their Senjutsu chakra also surrounded the user in an aura of that same natural energy. The Sage would then manipulate the aura to act as an extension of their body.

But the real lethality came from the fact that anyone who wasn't in Sage Mode was rendered unable to see the technique- it was completely untraceable to even the Byakugan and Sharingan, he'd tested that. But Naruto had taken it even a step further, by utilizing the aura, he could extend the range and force of his physical attacks, not unlike the chakra arms of a Version Two Jinchuriki. Consequently, attacks that seemingly or would normally miss his target could actually be manipulated into making contact with the enemy. And once again, as with the rare chakra itself, only users of Sage Mode could see or sense this aura's extension.

This is where Naruto had brought his tactical mind into play though. It was true that he had been fighting the two men while in Sage Mode for several minutes now, and in doing so, he could have used the Kawazu Kumite at any given point in time. However, it was a trick that he could only probably catch his enemies off guard with once, maybe twice if he was lucky, so he had had to time his attack carefully, hoping to use it as a killing blow. Unfortunately, as he watched Itachi rise to his feet, it hadn't been, but it was very clear that it had dealt a massive amount of damage to the man, if his demeanor was anything to go off of.

He wasn't given any more time to lament on it anymore though, as he was forced backwards into a leaning bridge, Samehada slicing through the air above him. It had nearly caught him off guard, he had forgotten how sneaky the large shinobi could be, the man usually preferring the direct approach. However, the man hadn't been a master of the silent killing technique for nothing, and even without it he was a skilled fighter, his cunning impressive in his own right. As he moved, ducking and diving around the man's huge sword, he thanked his Godfather from beyond the grave, Sage Mode-Enhanced reflexes were saving him here, before he stepped forwards kicking off of Samehada itself and throwing himself backwards.

As the Last Uzumaki moved, a clone formed on either side of him, all three powering through hand seals as his shark-like enemy at the opposite end of the clearing did the same around his sword, both men calling out the names of their techniques in mere seconds of each other. "Senpō Katon: Dai Endan! (Sage Art Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet!)", "Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)", "Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)".

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Bomb Technique!), Suiton: Suijinheki! (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!)" The three chakra enhanced forms of nature shot across the field from the blonde, the Natural Energy infused and Wind Chakra boosted bullet of fire arcing across the field, before impacting against the large and dense counterpart of itself made entirely of water. The liquid sphere, though strong and extremely powerful in its own right, was no match for the combination jutsu, and it was quickly overwhelmed, the spear of lightning that was added to the mix proving entirely too much for the technique to bear, though the three moves were all eventually stopped by the hulking wall of water that appeared in front of the wildly smiling Kisame.

Once again though, Naruto was rendered unable to move in with a follow on technique as he was forced to dodge back and out of the way of an absurdly large fireball that danced across the ground where he had been mere moments before, though it would prove to be for naught as an equally large ball of bursting flame collided with it from an opposing angle, Naruto landing softly to the side as a familiar and dark form landed soundly next to him, smirking slightly as he did so. The Last Uzumaki didn't even need to turn his head to recognize the familiar presence of his friend, and merely inclined his head slightly to the right as he spoke.

The raven haired man wore a black cloak over an equally black shirt and pants, a white belt and white bandages wrapped up to his knees on both legs. The last Loyal Uchiha had donned a black cloak with purple lining, and a grey, long-sleeved, collared shirt, over which he wore a periwinkle vest. On one hand was a dark grey fingerless glove, his other one remaining unhindered. His Hitai-Ite was worn in a similar fashion to his blonde teammate, letting it hang from his left hip. His long-sleeved shirt finished down in light grey cuffs, and around his waist there were a pair of brown leather belts with various weapon pouches, a brown shuriken holster on his left thigh, and brown shinobi boots to finish off everything in decency, though the most distinctive thing about him were the spinning crimson eyes he had.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Sasuke. I've been out here fighting them for a bit now, and after all the trouble I went through to pass by the Uchiha Compound just so you'd know… seems a bit harsh, if you ask me." The man next to him stood tall, after years of preparation and both inner and outer conflict, of fighting against himself and training to exhaustion more times that he could count, the day was finally here. After today, he would be able to rest easy, his clan's honor restored and his name cleansed, the dead souls of his family put to rest as he buried his own Kin-Slayer of a brother.

"Had to say goodbye to Sakura, she'd have been mad if I just up and left without saying anything." As he spoke, the man's visible eye widened briefly as he looked to the man at his side, the blonde smirking briefly with an all too familiar 'I-so-fucking-called-that' look, though he opted not to say anything about it at the moment, there were other, more important things to deal with now. "So…you remember the deal we made, right?" It was a rhetorical question that the raven haired Uchiha asked his friend, they had made the pact only a week or so prior, there was no way he could have forgotten."

"Go say hello, I'll finish up here and meet up with you in a bit." There was no longer any need for words, the two members of Akatsuki on the other end apparently having a very similar conversation, before Itachi looked over to his younger brother, the two making a very brief and intense eye contact before the two sole surviving members of the once decorated and revered clan vanished in a pair of dual shunshins, leaving the large frame of Kisame to face the smaller but no less intimidating one of the Last Son of the Uzumaki Clan, both men grinning in earnest.

Now that it was a one-on-one fight, it was only a matter of time before the blonde could spring his trap on the large man, he just needed to wait for the right moment.

* * *

The two black shadows mirrored each other as they blurred through the forest, passing through the branches at a breakneck pace, before they both came to rest in a small clearing a decent distance away from where the original battle was being fought between the Akatsuki Representatives and Naruto. The two estranged brothers had not said anything as they moved through the trees, neither man even needed to look at the other as they headed to the area they would fight, the place they were heading being both symbolic and perfect for their needs.

The Last Surviving members of the once revered and respected Uchiha Clan landed at opposite ends of the small clearing, both men coming to an abrupt halt as they squared off against the other. Together they stood in the training area that Itachi had taken Sasuke countless times before his betrayal, the two training and playing for untold hours as children, the older of the two even teaching his brother a thing or two about being a ninja, bonding as siblings and brothers. But no more. Time had changed the two men more than the passing of a tide against a stone wall, and the fruits of their labor would soon show.

"Itachi." It was a single, simple word that left Sasuke's lips, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he stared down his older brother, the man's own crimson orbs piercing the irises of his own. The older man merely inclined his head slightly at the younger man, briefly taking in his appearance as the two looked on, no moves being made as of yet, both content to play this little game against each other. It was in vain, though. Neither man was stupid, and both were quite capable shinobi in their own right, and there was only one way that this would end. By the end of the day, the world would have one less Uchiha.

"So Sasuke… I told you once that when you had grown enough hate within yourself, that when you had obtained the same eyes as my own, that would be when you faced me. So tell me, Younger Brother…" The man paused, letting his words sink into the air as he briefly closed his eyes, dipping his head slightly and causing the sun to shine off the slashed Konoha Hitai-Ite that graced his forehead, before tilting it back up, his own Doujutsu blazing madly as he yelled across the clearing. "Do you have the Mangekyō?!"

The younger man sighed briefly, almost seeming bored on the outside, though underneath the raven-haired man was incredibly tense. He chose his next words carefully, speaking briefly and keeping his words concise. There was no point in attempting to preach to and to turn to his brother, in his eyes the man was too far lost to be redeemed. "No, but these eyes that I do possess… they can see fine in the darkness, their vision is perfect, and with them I see your fate."

"Then you are still worthless to me. You aren't even worth killing as you are now, foolish little brother." Sasuke didn't show it, but the man's words stung like ice on a cold day. Even after all these years, a small part of him still yearned for the approval of the only family he had left, though he knew it would never come and that it was foolish to do so, but the next words from his elder brother only served to anger him. "Go away. You don't interest me at the moment, I have more pressing matters to attend to than killing someone as pathetic as you."

""The words of a failure making excuses. Are you telling me to admit my limitations and give up, that I'll never surpass you because I refuse to kill those closest to me, to become the embodiment of my own hatred? This is what happens when you always had everything handed to you, Itachi. Power has caused you to become isolated and arrogant, drunk on your own abilities." The younger man finished, his rage boiling just beneath his skin as he pushed every ounce of self-control he possessed to the surface, desperately keeping himself in check as he faced off against the object that had been his greatest source of pain and hatred for the last decade.

Itachi merely watched his younger brother with apathetic eyes, the man having proven to him once again just how useless he was by failing to achieve the Mangekyō in the last several years. Perhaps he had executed his plan poorly? It didn't matter, in the end he mused. Sasuke wanted to fight, then he'd humor him, Kisame should have been able to take care of Naruto on his own, and regardless this fight wouldn't take long for him to finish, anyways. The Kin-Slayer tensed his body in preparation to move forward and attack, every muscle poised for an assault as he spoke the final words of the battle.

"Forgive me, Sasuke. There won't be another time."

* * *

"And then there were two…" The deep voice of the bulky man permeated the small silence that had been left in the wake of the absence of the two Uchiha. Kisame flexed the grip he had on Samehada, loosening his hand and then tightening it once more as he grinned with his predatory features, his gaze fixed on the man before him. In all honesty, the former member of the Seven Swordsmen was quite happy that Itachi had left, this meant that he could go all out with abandon, not having to worry about angering the smaller man or being stopped by him. It was time for him to cut loose.

Naruto on the other hand, had never let his guard down, and the minute that all movement on the battlefield he had stopped instantly, already drawing the harsh natural energy from the surrounding area into his body and molding it with his own, replenishing his nearly spent reserves. The blonde man was no expert in reading the small facial tics of another, preferring to learn all he needed through combat, but in this case Kisame wasn't exactly hiding his intentions. Hell, the blonde ninja wasn't anything close to a sensor-nin and he could already feel the man's chakra spiking, and while it didn't bode well, it would serve his purpose nicely.

The blonde gave the large man no reprise, launching himself forward and beginning to flash to the numerous kunai that had now come to litter the clearing the men had been battling in, only to be somewhat surprised as Kisame jumped back, his hands already finishing the seals for a jutsu of his own. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!)", there was a brief roar as the dragon formed into existence, but the S-Ranked Missing-Nin was no longer concerned with that, forming another technique and shooting off immediately. "Suiton: Suigadan! (Water Release: Water Bullets!)".

Unfortunately for the swordsman, the Last Uzumaki was a Ninjutsu powerhouse himself, and he wasn't planning on being captured today. With that sentiment in mind, two clones of his target exploded roughly into view on either side of him, all three rushing through seals of their own, powerful combination jutsu that screamed to life in seconds to meet the water of their opponent. "Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm!)", "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Flame Bullet!)", "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!)".

Several things happened in tandem at that moment, the most prominent being the slight explosion that was made from the collision of the superheated fire meeting the condensed liquid that was its opposite, creating a large cloud of steam in its wake. Following that, there was a brief flash of electricity as the only remaining Naruto on the far side of the field slammed a sparking hand into the earth, releasing the lethal bolts of lightning into the ground and watching as they arced towards the last known position of his enemy. However, this was proven to be in vain as the man in question came launching at the Last Uzumaki from the left, an angle which wasn't covered by the deadly combination attack, swinging his large blade in a crushing arc towards the smaller man.

The Jounin of Konoha barely had time to pull up his own Katana in a block, bracing himself as the two blades connected, his own eyes glinting dangerously as he was forced backwards and felt his feet digging into the dirt. The two men locked eyes, both of them predators and killers in their own right, legends amongst those they served with, before they both simultaneously kicked off of each other, their respective shins stinging from the force of the dual blow. Kisame stared down his enemy across the field, and deciding that he had had enough, began the preparations for his ultimate technique, slamming his sword into the ground and rushing through hand seals as Naruto's eyes widened, the man charging forward and molding his own chakra.

"Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha! (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!)" The large man spats out a great volume of water from this mouth, swallowing up and crushing the surrounding area with the advancing surge. The amount of water created with his technique was directly proportional to the amount of chakra used; and Kisame had poured enough into it to transform even a dry wasteland into a small ocean. Unfortunately, this technique would prove to be his folly, his ultimate asset turned against him, and he only began to realize his error as he saw the small smirk that graced the Last Uzumaki's lips as he held a single hand up, the fingertips glowing blue before slamming it into the ground.

"Kekkai Fuinjutsu: Keimusho Shūyōsho no Hōkai! (Barrier Sealing Method: Collapsing Prison Encampment!)". Six walls burst into life around the former member of the Seven Swordsmen, forming a perfect hexagon with the large man as the center. The walls burst to life with a red hue, a ceiling forming and connecting all of them as they called out to each other, blocking the flow of water inside their walls, before they began to contract against each other, all while the water continued to pour from the man's mouth. Kisame's eyes widened in horror and surprise as the true extent of the technique dawned on him, the man desperately canceling his jutsu, though he knew in his heart that it was already too late.

The water still flooded the area, but now, instead of cascading around the surrounding area and creating the large dome that was the man's second home, it repelled off the ever enclosing barrier and moved back towards him, the pressure only multiplying as it began to condense even more. Kisame tried to struggle, but it would eventually prove be no avail as he was slowly crushed by the force and power of his own technique. Though the man was undoubtedly strong, a human body can only take so much before it and everything inside it reduced to mush. It didn't matter that he could breathe underwater, but then again, nothing mattered anymore. The man couldn't even coherently form any last words as the increasing pressure soon proved too much for even him to handle.

In mere moments, the last person to ever wield the legendary Samehada would die, the sword itself also succumbing to the intense forces upon it, compressing and effectively killing the sentient blade. Hoshigaki Kisame would have loosened his grip on the handle of the blade, but at that point the force of the water upon his skin held his body in a grip like a vice, he was unable to move even the smallest appendage. There was no glorious finish in which he went all out, only to be bested by an even stronger opponent, no, he was simply killed because of someone that was not only skilled, but smart in their fighting, the blonde in question watching on as his seal slowly crushed the life out of the hulk of a man.

Hoshigaki Kisame, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, holder of the moniker of 'The Tailless Bijuu', member of the world class Organization Akatsuki, and partner to one Uchiha Itachi, had died.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that brings us to the end of this chapter. Don't really have a lot to say, just that I'm incredibly happy that the feedback I'm getting from you guys is largely positive. Means I'm doing a good job and that you all like what you see. Hope the fight with Kisame was alright for you all, dude was a total beast in canon. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	24. Change of Heart

**What's up, guys? Sorry for the later update on this one, and just as a heads up the next couple one's might take a little bit longer to happen as work is picking up a lot with my return to the 'States. Don't worry though, I** _ **will**_ **be finishing the story, and I refuse to abandon it. All I'm saying is that it might take a little bit longer than originally anticipated. Anyways, thanks for all the feedback you guys are giving me, I'm glad to see that you all are enjoying the story so far, really happy you all enjoyed the fight with Kisame. Anyways, onto the newest chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **Change of Heart**

* * *

Life's hardest choices are the ones that force you to question your own moral code. It's all a matter of perspective, really. There is no single path through life that's right and fair and does no harm yet still grants the outcome one desires. Significance comes not from a single act, but the context in which it is performed, and inversely, it can also be said that people are quick to judge others, yet slow to correct themselves. These were the thoughts that ran through the mind of the Last Uzumaki as he left the office of his Hokage and began walking through the streets of the village he was sworn to protect.

Naruto allowed a small sigh to grace his lips as he moved, rolling the joints in his neck to alleviate some of the tension he felt there. It had only been a mere three days since his battle with the now deceased Kisame, putting the now dwindling organization that was Akatsuki down yet another member, so far all known members dead by his hand. It was still an unfortunate situation though, as Sasuke had been unable to defeat his brother in single combat. It hadn't been due to his lack of skill, however, as Itachi had retreated from the battle entirely as he felt the death of his partner and the coming arrival of the Konohagakure Shinobi that were no doubt on their way to provide backup.

Itachi was no fool, and he was very well aware of his limits. He was definitely a strong shinobi in his own right, but he had been in prolonged combat for quite a while now, sustaining damage from both Naruto and Sasuke, and though he had no doubt that he could come out on top against another opponent, fighting against the several ninja in a solo engagement against an unknown force was never a good idea. So the older Uchiha had cut his losses and left, leaving behind a wounded Sasuke and a dead Kisame, already knowing that Pain would be somewhat irritated with the loss of yet another member to the Kyuubi Jinchuriki.

But the Hokage, in his infinite wisdom, had prevented the Blonde Jounin from pursuing his enemy, and ordered him to stand down, and reluctantly he had obeyed. Orders were orders, after all, and he had never been one to truly disobey them without good cause. At least there was a reason behind it, this time though, and all things considered, he might actually get to enjoy this mission, considering where it would be taking him.

The elite Jounin replayed the events from the briefing he had just received from the Hokage himself in his mind, going over the key details that he would need to remember over the coming days. The Raikage had requested Konoha's assistance with a growing problem in Lightning Country, something that he felt that the Leaf-Nin had more experience dealing with than his own did, under the circumstances. He was acting under pretense of the recent treaty that had been signed, and honestly it was a clever play. Best case scenario, the Leaf ninja took out the issue at the source and the problem was eliminated, strengthening the alliance between the two countries, while a worst case scenario meant that the leaf was out some of its shinobi, cementing Kumo as the strongest village in case of an attack. A win-win situation, really.

The situation itself was… peculiar, to say the least. Citizens in the surrounding villages around Kumo had gone missing. It was a case that was oddly familiar to the happenings in Konoha only several years prior, the eventual cause being determined to be Orochimaru, kidnapping men, women, and children alike in his quest for research and further mastery of all known to man. It was unknown to the higher echelons in the Leaf just how long it had been going on, but when the pale faced former student of the Sandaime had been discovered, it had been the final straw that allowed Orochimaru to cement his decision into becoming a missing-nin.

But the Snake Sannin was dead, killed by the late Jiraiya's own hand, so the reports now were very troubling. If someone was attempting to recreate or continue the experiments that the crazed scientist had been going through, they needed to be put down as soon as possible. The things that had been reported to them, the atrocities that had been committed against the bodies, it was enough to make a lesser man vomit. Unfortunately or fortunately though, depending on your outlooks of things, Naruto was simply unfazed by the photos that he'd seen, the acts he'd both witnessed and committed long since stealing his innocence from him.

The same couldn't be said for three of the four members that would be tagging along with him though, only their Jounin-Sensei remaining cool during the briefing. And why wouldn't he, the man had certainly lived through and seen some shit, to say the least, but then again, the Twelve Ninja Guardians wouldn't recruit or take just anybody into their ranks, and Sarutobi Asuma was no exception to the rule. The man was a capable and powerful Jounin in his own right, and he certainly lived up to being the last surviving member of the Sarutobi Clan, following the death of his father Hiruzen, and his orphaned nephew Konohamaru.

About seven years prior to Naruto's admission to the Konoha Academy, Asuma had had a disagreement with his father and had left the village to pursue his own personal interests. During his absence, the chain smoker had become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, an elite group of shinobi that protected the Land of Fire's daimyo, a feat he was immensely proud of as he continued to wear the sash he'd earned around his waist. During this time he'd developed a strong friendship with the monk Chiriku, a man who would go on to become the head monk of the Fire Temple.

Yet his exploits were not over quite yet, as prior to his eventual return to Konohagakure to resume active military duty, he had accumulated a bounty of 35 million ryō on the black market, something he had always seemed to be particularly proud of, considering it a testament of his skill, even going as far as to brag that his bounty was 5 million more than his friend Chiriku's. After returning to the village, Asuma had actively resumed his jōnin duties and became a Jounin-Sensei for several groups of budding shinobi, though it was quite obvious that the laid back man was the most proud of his current group, the latest generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

The final Sarutobi was a generally tall man, with brown eyes, olive skin, short black spiky hair, and a matching beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up half way, a Jounin flak jacket, the standard shinobi combat sandals and a Leaf Hitai-Ite that was proudly on display on his forehead. He also wore a sash that had the kanji for "Fire" marked on it around his waist, with a pair of black bangles, and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves that completed the ensemble of the imposing and deadly, yet laid back and kind man. He'd managed to keep a emotionless visage during the briefing, yet underneath he was slightly upset by the whole development.

The three Chunin members of his squad though, were another story altogether, and the three young adults had varying reactions as different as their appearances. The first one that Naruto had reintroduced himself to was Nara Shikamaru, the only child of Yoshino and Shikaku, and the eventual heir to the Nara Clan. He had managed to keep a somewhat indifferent façade during the briefing, but a skilled observer like the Last Uzumaki and Sarutobi had been able to pick up on the small facial tics and ques left behind that showed he was still somewhat disturbed by the situation.

Shikamaru was naturally a lazy person and his inclination had always been to do as little work as possible, preferring to spend his days sleeping, watching the clouds, or playing games of shōgi instead of working or training. Yet, although lazy by nature, the lethargic man possessed a rare intellect that consistently allowed him to prevail in combat, devising strategies and counter-plays that were absolutely mind boggling in nature, allowing his team to come out on top in more than one situation.

The unassuming Nara had narrow brown eyes and typically wore an expression suggesting that he was either bored or irritated. His shoulder length black hair was tied in a spiky ponytail, a style he'd picked up from his father and had kept throughout his life so far. After becoming a Chunin, the lazy genius had elected to disregard almost the entirety of his personalized wardrobe in favor of the standard Konoha-nin outfit, the only customizations being green-lined mesh armor on his wrists and ankles and the plate of his forehead protector being sewn into his left sleeve. He had also replaced the traditional hoop earrings of his clan for simple studs, a gift from his sensei Asuma.

This had brought the blonde to the second member of the group, and one of the first people he had actually met when he first moved back to Konoha, one Yamanaka Ino. The woman was admittedly quite attractive, she had fair skin, blue eyes, and long platinum blonde hair that was kept in a ponytail, with bangs framing the right side of her face and hiding her eye. Her outfit was very befitting of her figure, something she was quite proud of as her outfit was slightly more revealing than other kunoichi. She had discarded her Hitai-Ite and the bandages she'd worn in her youth, choosing now to expose her midriff while wearing mesh armor on her thighs, elbows and knees.

In each ear was a single silver stud, once again a gift from her sensei and friend, Asuma. Other than that, her entire outfit was a deep purple, proudly showing off the favorite color of the fiery woman. Ino was noted to be an exceptional kunoichi by Asuma, something he'd learned during the briefing he'd received, an additionally her father Inoichi had stated that she has the potential to become the greatest member of the Yamanaka clan. The woman, while not holding a candle to the likes of Sakura or Tsunade, was still an exceptional medic-nin, and was quite proficient in her clans mind walking techniques, and it was because of the latter that she seemed so horrified over the atrocities that had been committed to these people both before and after they had died.

But strangely, the strongest reaction had come from the fourth and final member of Team Ten, Akamichi Chouji, who had actually dropped the bag of chips he had happily been eating when his eyes took in the photographs of the mutilated and experimented upon bodies. Chouji was a very kind, polite, and caring person, the traits from his childhood shining through now even as a young adult. These characteristics were often said to be his greatest strength by both his father Chōza and his teacher Asuma, while his greatest weakness was admittedly his lack of self-confidence.

The large man had been and still was easily motivated by the prospect of food, though it was noted that he became highly agitated if somebody were to call him "fat" (he preferred to refer to himself as "big-boned", or "chubby"), while Asuma would only say that he was just "pleasantly plump". However, he would never hide his love for food and his near constant hunger is also an annoyance to his teammates, as eating often comes before other necessities such as stealth and teamwork, though in his later years he had begun to overcome the issues and focus more on the mission at hand over a meal, his food no longer interfering with his duties as a shinobi.

The large man's attire was quite different from his two co-Chunin, as he sported a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs, having the same kanji for "food" on the front, bearing a remarkable resemblance to a samurai with the getup. He wore a standard red Hitai-Ite, the Leaf etching on display on his forehead and like the two other members of his team, the rotund man wore two stud in either ear, receiving them for his teacher the same as his partners. Over his armor, he wore the standardized green Konoha flak jacket, though it was notably unzipped near the top.

Naruto sighed as he finished going over the details of the members of Team Ten in his head, knowing that there was more than one reason the Hokage had chosen this particular team to be his relief for the coming mission. The first and most obvious purpose was that the chance of combat with an enemy source was highly likely, and while he was more than capable of defending himself, his leader had expressed interest in having this particular adversary captured, if possible, and Team Ten was a capture and interrogation team. It made sense in that matter, Shikamaru used his shadow Ninjutsu to bind the target while it fought against Chouji, the close range expert, after which Ino would mind walk against them, with Asuma providing support when needed.

But that was where he came in. The Last Uzumaki was no slouch, he knew that at the moment he was probably the strongest shinobi that the Leaf had to offer, save for maybe Tsunade and the Hokage himself. That was why he was on this mission and why he was given joint command of the operation with the final Sarutobi, if this threat was really the second coming of Orochimaru, then it needed to be put down like a sick dog, and that was something that Naruto was very, _very_ capable of doing, with or without the help of Team Ten.

The second, underlying reason that this team had been sent along was to 'unofficially' keep an eye on him, and to report back to the Hokage on his mental and moral state. It wasn't uncommon, really. It had happened before with other shinobi, and it would happen again long after he had passed on. But that wasn't what irritated Naruto about the situation, no that was that his Hokage, his leader had neglected to tell him of this part, done it behind his back, treated him as if he were too stupid to not figure it out. But the blonde Jounin was not a dumb person, and while he may not have possessed the intellect of Shikamaru, he was certainly capable of figuring things out on his own.

That was why the situation irritated him, he knew the Hokage was watching him, evaluating him like he was some sort of risk or threat to the village. _Him!_ The one who had defended it time and again against threats both foreign and domestic, he was being watched because of certain tendencies he'd taken to, patterns that the Hokage himself had fallen into earlier in his life as well. Naruto had lost _everything_ that was important to him. Everyone he loved had died, taken from him, and now he was being denied the revenge he so rightfully deserved, instead being sent on missions around the elemental nations to work for other interests.

Hell, when Kisame and Itachi had attacked him he had been borderline _happy_ for the first time in the weeks since Jiraiya's death. He had been able to strike back against the organization that had taken his Godfather from him, and he would have happily killed off Itachi had he been able to as well, but that was what worried Kakashi. He could see it, the younger man's world was becoming unraveled, and his passion was now vengeance against the organization that had wronged him so, and it was all he could to keep the man in check. When Akatsuki had attacked him in Konoha, he hadn't even gone for help, and the two members that had assaulted him were on the top ten listing for the most dangerous criminals in the known world!

The sole survivor of the Hatake Clan could see it in his eyes. Naruto no longer cared if he lived or died, walking his days now only in service of his village, and even then, only in an effort to bring himself closer to the single man who had taken the last shred of humanity from him, this 'Pain'. This is what had angered the Uzumaki so, knowing that he had a definitive location on his enemy, yet being forbidden to pursue him, the only thing holding him back being the small amount of self-control he had, and the immense respect he held for Kakashi with his loyalty to the village. But those inhibitions could only hold someone with an insatiable hunger like his back for so long before they snapped, consuming everything in their path, regardless of them being friend or foe.

The Last Uzumaki breathed in and out softly as he walked towards his home, before abruptly turning and heading towards his new stomping grounds, shaking his head in an effort to clear his thoughts. Regardless of his personal feelings, he had a mission to complete, and as he had already accepted it, he was honor bound to put his best foot forward. It wouldn't due for him to start off a mission on a bad foot caused by his own self-pity, regardless of how warranted it was. As he entered the small and well-kept area that housed the Memorial Stone, he closed his eyes, allowing himself to become one with the energies around him, molding the nature chakra with his own as he stood.

With any luck, this new man who fancied himself after Orochimaru would put up a decent fight, he could use another good scrap to hone his skills. Everything was training, after all, and if he was going to take down the leader of Amegakure, he'd need every trick he had and more.

* * *

"…Team Samui will be the meeting and acting Kumogakure representatives for the duration of the Konoha groups' investigation." The Raikage's assistant, Mabui finished, taking in the looks of each member in of the aforementioned team in stride as she collected the folders she had previously given each of them, the information for their coming assignment within. The team seemed to be taking the news rather well, and it was a good thing in all honesty. If the two once so opposed villages were going to be working alongside each other and were going to build a lasting peace, then coalition between the smallest echelons was imperative.

"The team will be arriving at the rendezvous point in just under a week, you are to meet with them and provide any support and assistance that you can to the operation, in addition to keeping an eye on your Konoha counterparts. Though the villages of Leaf and Cloud are in a period of peace, it is unwise to not keep tabs on an unsure support. Are you clear on your orders?" The silver haired woman looked around the room once, briefly making eye contact with the one man and two women that comprised Team Samui, before she nodded once, stacking the papers on the desk behind her as she turned. "Dismissed."

"Oh man… I wonder what this crazy mad scientist guy is doing, maybe he's the second coming of Orochimaru? Maybe he's actually Orochimaru himself and the guy wasn't actually killed in Konoha's war? Damn guys, I'm good and all, but I don't think I'm good enough to-" The dark-skinned swordsman that was Omoi was knocked over to the side, his ever present lollipop being forced out of his mouth by the blow that was dealt by Karui as she began to scold him for overthinking things, yet again. In the meantime, while the two behind her continued to bicker amongst themselves, the busty blonde that was Samui had already made her exit, swiftly passing down the hallway and out the doors into the frigid air of her home.

So, Naruto was coming back to Kumo. That was nice, too bad it was under assignment, but Samui was truly happy that she would be able to see the man again, he was an enigma in her eyes, and he had even helped her start down the road to recovering from her pseudo-sister Yugito's death. Yet at the same time, she had known that he was hurting himself, but he didn't try to push his feelings on her, the two had been content with the pleasant silence of each other's company. Yes, it would be a lie to say that she was indifferent about seeing him again.

However, it would be interesting to see how her team reacted with the new Konoha squad that was joining him, a capture/interrogation squad if her memory of the report served true. She had no doubt that their Jounin-Sensei would likely find a friend in Darui, who would be joining them on this mission, the man seemed to possess a natural talent for making others comfortable around him, but the other two members of her team would be interesting to watch when they met new people, especially ones from so far away. Samui let an unconscious shiver run down her spine as she walked through the busy streets, seriously, sometimes the wind in the north was brutal.

With any luck, this investigation wouldn't be too difficult, and whoever the culprit was they would be put down easily enough. Not that she was worried though, her team was quite capable of taking down strong opponents, and then there was Darui, a man who was more or less being groomed for the position of Godaime Raikage, a very powerful man if he was to fit his title. In addition to that, there was the Konoha team, who Samui had no doubt were strong and capable on their own, with the added benefit that was Naruto, a man who she had personally witnessed beat Kumo's own Jinchuriki Killer Bee in a fight, without even calling upon his own tenants power. It was safe to say that anything that was thrown their way, the group would be able to handle it.

Samui opened the door to her apartment, walking inside and lounging on the couch, sitting softly on it as she relaxed from her day, her mind lazily going over the thoughts and facts that passed it by after the briefing, and musing over just what would be happening over the next several days, once the squad from Konoha arrived. She leaned back into the cusions of the couch, allowing her shoulders to briefly tense before relzxing them and leaning her head back, closing her eyes as she did so. The Jounin of Kumogakure no Sato only had one thought that passed through her mind as she laid there, mulling over her thoughts.

"Cool."

* * *

Yakushi Kabuto had lived an interesting and eventful life, to be sure.

As a mere child, Kabuto had been found by Nonō Yakushi on the outskirts of a city recently destroyed in a battle. The young child had suffered a severe head injury, leaving him with no memory of his name or past, the amnesia being total in his corrupted memories. Nonō had treated his wounds and brought him to Konohagakure where he had been inducted into the orphanage rather quickly, despite his lack of a name or any identifying features. While there, another orphan who was called 'Urushi' had placed a helmet on his head so he wouldn't be injured again, prompting Nonō to name him 'Kabuto', the name sticking with him for the rest of his life.

The newest citizen found that while his name had been given as somewhat of a joke, he very much liked it. He had adored it so much, that the young child had left his bed that very night in order to thank the woman who had saved him, unaware of the orphanage's strict schedule. When Nonō found him later that evening, she discovered that this was in part due to his inability to read a clock, or anything for that matter, the skilled medic nin quickly deducing this problem to be derived from his poor eyesight. Nonō had then given the newly monikered Kabuto her own glasses so that he could finally see clearly, an act of kindness that overwhelmed him with thankfulness he had no memory of ever feeling before.

To earn additional money for the orphanage's operations and expenses, the older Yakushi used her medical Ninjutsu to treat the injured shinobi of Konohagakure and after teaching Kabuto to do the same, he would assist to the best of his ability. Although the money helped a good amount, the members of the small organization still relied heavily on direct funding from the village itself in order to get by. It was because of their lack of money that things quickly began to change for the young child, beginning with his induction into a very clandestine organization that operated out of the Village Hidden in the Leaves itself.

Aware of the monetary situation with the orphanage, one Shimura Danzo paid a visit to Nonō one summer day threatening to withhold the funding they so desperately needed if they didn't volunteer one of the orphans over to his ROOT organization. It was a solid plan on the old man's part, an orphan was someone that no one would miss, especially after joining with his army of emotionless soldiers. Kabuto, after eavesdropping on this conversation, volunteered against Nonō and Urushi's protests, but the boy was determined to repay the kindness that he had received, even if he had to leave behind the only family he could currently remember in order to do so.

ROOT had trained Kabuto to primarily specialize in espionage and over the years the shadowy organization sent him all over the elemental nations, from Iwa to Kiri. It made no difference to the boy whether he was posing as a ninja of Kumo, Kiri, Suna, or even Iwa, he knew in his heart that what he was doing, the acts he was committing, they were keeping his friends and pseudo-family safe, and to that end he would do whatever was necessary to defend that. But it was this mindset that had blinded him, and it was while he was on an assignment in Iwagakure that things went awry. Kabuto's spying was discovered and an Iwa-nin had quickly cornered him, a brief conflict ensuing. He was able to strike down his assailant, only afterwards discovering that it was Nonō, the woman also being an agent of ROOT.

Kabuto apologized profusely and tried to heal the woman that had taken him in, but to his astonishment she didn't recognize his face, even when he told her his name. She died from her injuries and Kabuto was forced to flee before Nonō's backup found him, once more on the run, even after so long. Once safe, he'd become was disillusioned by what had happened, having a minor identity crisis, wondering who he was if even Nonō didn't know him. It was soon after this incident that his life would once more change, as he was soon confronted by Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin having taken an interest in the young Yakushi over the years.

Orochimaru had explained several things to him that fateful night, and he had opened Kabuto's eyes in more ways than one as he told his tale. The most alarming fact was that Danzo had been giving Nonō falsified photographs of Kabuto so the older woman would no longer recognize him if/when they were to meet. This in turn allowed Danzo to pit Nonō and Kabuto against each other and thus eliminate ROOT's two most effective, and consequently, far too knowledgeable, spies. Assuming that Orochimaru planned to finish him off, Kabuto had desperately attacked him, distraught by the loss of both Nonō and the self-identification he'd acquired through her.

Orochimaru had of course easily survived the attack, but then instead of finishing off the broken child, he had suggested that Kabuto now try making a new identity for himself using whatever knowledge of the world he could acquire. The Snake Summoner had offered to help him in this regard and invited him to help make a new village, Otogakure, where individuality could thrive. Kabuto had readily agreed, latching onto the man like a man possessed, and Orochimaru gave him a new backstory: that he was found by Nonō - a captain of Konoha's Medic Corps - after the Battle of Kikyō Pass and adopted as her son.

With this backstory, Kabuto had been able to become a Genin of Konoha, where he had continued to put his talents for espionage to good use in service of his new master, until once more in his life, things took a turn for the worst. One of the Hokage's ANBU Captains, a young man by the codename 'Lynx', had broken into one of Orochimaru's bases and captured Tayuya, one of the man's bodyguards. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, except in this case, the capture of the redhead set about a turn of events that would once more flip Kabuto's world on its head, changing things for the worst in his eyes. It was Lynx's fault for the next several years, and the fault remained with the same for the final breaking point of Kabuto- the death of Orochimaru.

He was all too aware that the now-former ANBU Captain wasn't the one that struck the final blow against his master, that right having belonged to the man's own teammate, Jiraiya the Toad Sage. However, that man had already died, and thus his plans for vengeance had changed from him to the next best thing, the 'Hero' of the last war and one of the men that was singlehandedly one of the largest deciding factors against the fall of Orochimaru, Uzumaki Naruto. It was this man that had brought about yet another identity crisis for him, and he would make the man pay, he would force his world to burn, and Kabuto would pull and play on his heartstrings like no other. Naruto would come to rue the day he had played his hand, if the Yakushi had his way.

At times, the man used to seem quite open, more than willing to approach people and always confident in his own words and actions, though this could have been an act in his role as a master spy. By his own admission, he was an introvert who doesn't like to be looked at and who was always more comfortable in the background, like a metaphorical fly on the wall. Yet, at the same time, he had been known to be very critical of others, dismissing their personal desires and outlining all the flaws he perceived them to have.

But then to those he felt are deserving of his respect, he was never anything but polite, regarding them with deference, using the appropriate honorifics and even chastising those who didn't do the same. But Kabuto was also quite cunning, being cruel when he needed to, preying on sensitive topics in order to rile someone up and punctuating his comments with sarcasm, speaking like a snake that his benefactor and master was known for. Other times he had been witnessed to be kind, even putting himself at risk and being helpful for no immediate benefit to himself.

The many contradictions of Kabuto's personality were a direct result of his frequent role as a spy, having spent most of his life changing identities and loyalties in order to gather information for some organization or another, be it Konoha or otherwise. Although he'd been serving Orochimaru for the longest period of time, even the Snake Sage hadn't been completely aware of what Kabuto's truest feelings were. Orochimaru had trusted Kabuto implicitly, yet secretly suspected that the younger man might intentionally undermine him, intentionally keeping him on a short leash, aware that he might not always act for the reasons he claimed to.

He had changed a lot in the time that had passed since he had abandoned Konohagakure, not only in mind but in body as well, though a few things remained constant. Kabuto had onyx eyes and ash-grey hair, which he normally used to keep in a ponytail. His most consistent feature are his black rimmed circular glasses, given to him by Nonō herself, something he had refused to abandon. While working in Konoha, he had donned a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, and dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband. Additionally, he had worn dark purple fingerless gloves with armored plates on the back of the hand, his disguise complete with a dark blue Hitai-Ite that bore the leaf of the village itself.

Now though, his physical appearance had changed a drastic amount. Kabuto had done the unthinkable and infused himself with Orochimaru's remains, causing his once tanned skin to turn white and scaly around the point of application on his left arm, though it was gradually spreading its influence across the rest of his body. Kabuto now wore a black robe with red lining and his once groomed and well-kept hair was now long and unkempt, his visage bearing a remarkable resemblance to his late master. In addition to the changes to his skin, Kabuto's eyes had become yellow with slitted pupils, around which were Orochimaru's characteristic purple markings. A long, white snake had fused with his abdomen, which the former wrapped around his waist, the living being sometimes slithering under or behind him like a tail.

Kabuto cackled lightly to himself as he walked across the barren landscape, absentmindedly taking in his surroundings as he moved. Yes, soon things would change, and the Last Uzumaki would know what it meant to have everything taken from him once more, to have to face those things which were near unbearable. It was going to finally give his life meaning, and in the process, his vengeance would be fulfilled. It was a shame that Jiraiya was dead, but this would serve his purpose nonetheless.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that brings us to the end of the 24** **th** **Chapter! Hope you guys like where I'm going with this, and don't worry, it's going to be a helluva journey, not just some little one-shot arc to buy time and build character to build suspense for the main story. I promise, everything will tie together in the end. Sorry for those of you that were expecting a big blowout fight between Itachi and Sasuke, I can say that a fight with Itachi will happen, just not yet, so don't lose sleep over it. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


	25. Broken Hearts, Shattered Minds

**Annnnnnndddd we're back! And with the 25** **th** **Chapter already! Jesus Christ guys, it's been a crazy ride so far, and this is awesome. We're rolling up on 200K words insanely quick, and we're already well over 150 Reviews and I can't even count how many views. This is crazy, when I started 'Immortalized', I never would have thought it'd pick up like this. Also, last thing before the chapter, I put up a new summary that I feel does a better job of painting the picture for my story, give it a quick read if you like. Anyways…  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

 **Broken Hearts, Shattered Minds**

* * *

Team Ten (plus one)'s journey though the elemental nations from the heart of Fire Country to Lightning Countries own beating lifeblood, Kumogakure no Sato. Or rather, one of the smaller outlying villages that was located near the large militarized village itself. The group of five had made relatively good time in their journey, completing the trip in just a few hours longer than Naruto's own trek that he'd made several months prior to the land hidden in the clouds. Their journey had been made in relative silence, with the blonde co-leader of the group not offering much input into the various conversations that were had.

All four members of the unchanged Team Ten had known Naruto for years, and while they hadn't spent too much time with him recently due to his always being away on assignment, they all had considered him a friend. This was in part why his change of heart was so alarming. Ino for one, while not necessarily unperturbed by his rude behavior, was definitely put off, the blonde man's current attitude clashing greatly with her own personality. It was honestly worrying, in her own semi-professional opinion, and she was concerned for her friend.

Gone was the once upbeat man that she had known for nearly as long as she could remember, replaced with the cold and unforgiving visage of a man that was a shell of his former self, despite the strength and authority he had gathered to himself in the meantime. It wasn't hard to see when the taller man had begun to break on a mental state, especially for someone like her, coming from a clan that was used to dealing with the human psyche. If she had to pick a place and time, it would have been when Konohamaru had been found, killed in a surprise attack from Kusa that sparked a war.

The platinum blonde glanced quickly to her left, briefly taking in the form of Naruto as he walked beside her, averting her gaze almost immediately as he inclined his head towards her. Yes, that was definitely when things had begun, and they had only gotten worse as time wore on, with every battle that the blonde shinobi fought wearing on him, up until the woman he loved was so roughly stolen from him. Ino wouldn't lie, she had been hurt when Tayuya died as well, the two had actually gotten on somewhat well together, even going on to become decent friends before her untimely demise.

Her death… it had turned the blonde into an emotional wreck, and though the mental specialist hadn't actually seen the bodies first hand, she'd heard the stories, read the reports. The death of his redheaded lover had turned the man into a ruthless fighter, someone who brutally destroyed his enemies in combat. It had been some time before Jiraiya had managed to pull the man from his sorrow, and then, just when it finally had appeared that he was recovering from all the tragedies that had befallen him, the unthinkable had happened. His Godfather too, had been slain, leaving him alone in an unforgiving world. It was a constant nightmare that the 'Hero of the Leaf' woke to every day.

"We're here." Ino was yanked from her thoughts on her impromptu teammate as her sensei Asuma spoke briefly, noting absentmindedly that Chouji was too busy eating to care, and Shikamaru seemed more concerned with the clouds above them, Naruto himself only giving a slight nod as he stamped out the cigarette he'd been chewing the butt of, before he led the small group inside of the moderately sized tavern that was to be their rendezvous.

As they entered, the first thing the group noticed was the complete lack of customers, which was odd considering the time of day it was. Perhaps it was different in Cloud, but back in their own home around this time the bars would be filled with both civilian and shinobi alike, all trying to escape from their problems, or even just to simply have a good time, whichever came first. The group made their way past the few patrons, moving to the stairs and the rooms that lie above. The modified Team Ten stopped briefly in front of the third door on the left, before once more Naruto moved to the front, knocking on the door in a very peculiar way.

One long tap, followed by three rapid ones, with two slightly longer ones shortly after. There was a brief moment of silence on both ends, before the slide on the door opened, revealing a pair of gorgeous eyes framed with yellow bangs, creamy skin all around. There were only two short words that were spoken in code, the first coming from Naruto with a following answer from the woman behind the door almost immediately, right before it was opened and the team was ushered inside. "Samui?"

"Naruto, good to see you again." The room itself was revealed to be quite large, with enough space for the eight people that now stood in the room to conduct their business, as they were only meeting here and nothing more, their actual base of operations would be somewhere else. Inside the room were three very familiar and friendly faces, to Naruto that is, those being the members of Team Samui. Omoi was off in a corner, his ever thoughtful look plastered across his face, while Karui stood opposite, polishing her katana, it seemed. The blonde leader of the team herself was standing in front of her Konoha counterpart, staring him dead in the eye with a slight smirk on her lips, though it faded into a frown as she took in Naruto's visage.

The man in question tore his gaze from the woman in front of him to size up the last person in the room, already knowing who he was by name without ever actually meeting the man. Darui was a fairly tall, dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose, complete with a pair of black eyes that usually look bored, with shaggy white hair that had grown to cover his left eye. He wore a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants, bandages on his wrists and the one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket that had become the standard of a Kumogakure shinobi.

The monikered "Right Hand of the Raikage" also had several tattoos, the two most prominent and most meaningful on his upper arms. The stylized characters for 'water' and 'lightning' were proudly written on his right and left shoulders respectively, denoting his chakra's nature affinities, Water Release and Lightning Release, and if one were up-to-date on the small amount of information on the man, they would know that it also denoted to his Kekkai Genkai, the Strom Release, that came from mixing his two prior affinities. He carried a broad and foldable cleaver-like sword, strapped to his back, a master of Kenjutsu just like many of his home village.

To say that he was imposing wouldn't have been a far call, though the man dashed all thoughts that any of the Konoha-Nin might have had of this with his first words to the group. Waving his right hand above his head in greeting, a small smile gracing his lips as the laid back man let out a sigh, his soft, yet gruff voice carrying through the room easily. "Yo, you must be the Naruto I've heard so much about." He addressed the Jounin, walking up to stand in front of him, holding out his hand in a closed fist. "I'm Darui."

For the first time in a while, Naruto allowed a smirk to cross his face as he brought his own hand up, closing his fist tightly and bumped it against his counterparts, already knowing the small customary greeting that many of the Kumo Shinobi used. He took a deep breath and glanced around the room, noting that introductions were going around between both groups before he cleared his throat and got everyone's attention, his mind firmly set in a no-nonsense attitude, mission success being critical.

"Alright, so we heard you were having a snake problem?"

* * *

Naruto let out a small sigh as he raked his hand through his hair, glancing briefly over to the slightly shorter woman on his right as they walked down the street of the small town they were in. It had been nearly a week sense the team from Konoha had met with their counterparts in Kumo, going over a baseline strategy before they headed out the following morning. Their plan was actually more or less pretty simple, the two teams had conjoined and then split apart into various teams, each coming the landscape with a base of operations that was centered in Kumo itself.

The Operations team consisted of Darui and Asuma, the two main team leaders, and they had made a swift journey back to mainland Kumogakure, where they would run the investigation and provide constant feedback and updates to the Raikage. The next team created had consisted of Omoi and Ino, the formers combat capabilities complementing the latter's lack thereof nicely, while still maintaining enough maturity between the two to conduct a thorough investigation. This team would be covering the Northeast area of the modified trifecta that had been created.

The third team was a three man cell, unlike the other groups, made up of Shikamaru, Chouji, and Karui. This configuration ha d a heavy difference to close/mid-range combat, though with the tactical genius that was Shikamaru, it wouldn't be surprising if the team were able to pull off all the feats that were required of this mission. Besides that, the laid back and relaxed attitude of the two Konoha Chunin would also be in contrast to their Cloud counterpart, helping to keep the fiery woman grounded throughout their mission, though it did irk her that the Nara had been given operational command of the small unit. This group took the Southern area of the aforementioned map.

The final unit that would be covering the Northeastern section found itself composed of the only two remaining members of both teams, Naruto and Samui. The two blondes didn't mind, they both got along rather well, having worked together before and hung out as well outside of missions. Both shinobi and kunoichi were operating with a somewhat laid back attitude, yet at the same time were moving with just enough urgency to complete their task in the appropriate timeframe that was expected. The two Jounin were the epitome of professional in their mission mindsets.

Or at least, they would have been, had both of their brains actually been one-hundred percent focused on the task at hand. In reality, the Jounin representative of Kumo was worrying about and thinking on something quite different from their assigned task, perfectly content to let the blonde do the mule's work of the investigation. It wasn't as if she was truly slacking, her counterpart was simply much, much more observant that her in this sense, and with his clone technique it was much more likely that he would come across anything of use long before she would. So, she was content to think and look back on the issue that was nagging at her, though why that would be she couldn't fathom.

There was something off about her blonde friend, something that she couldn't quite place, but it was something that nevertheless bothered her. She knew Naruto, and for however brief the time was they had spent together, she felt that she knew him rather well. You don't sit on rooftops and talk for hours without learning a little bit about the other person. As they exited yet another town in the region and began making their way towards the next in their mission, Samui steeled herself and spoke to her fellow blonde, her stubborn nature now preventing her from letting this go.

"So, are we just going to keep walking in silence all day or are you going to tell me what's wrong?" The constant crunching of their sandals upon the light snow ceased almost immediately, a heavy silence blanketing the two now that they were far enough from the town. Naruto was only a few paces in front of her, but the woman could see that he was rigid, stock still in his actions, and had she been in front of him, the woman would notice that his piercing blue eyes were shut tightly to the world, no light escaping them as he calmed himself, speaking in a low voice, before he began to keep walking.

"There's nothing to talk about." It was a simple reply. One that was uncharacteristically cold from the man, despite the frigid air that surrounded them. The Jounin of Kumo was stunned for a brief moment, watching him walk away before she pulled herself from her stupor, walking forward and with a purpose, catching up to the man easily. Almost cautiously, she reached her arm out and forward, gently placing it on Naruto's shoulder, squeezing it softly like she had so long before. Her voice was a quiet, soft whisper on the wind between the two paused killers, her breath almost hitching as she spoke.

"Look, I won't pry about it, alright? You already know that if and when you decide you want to talk about it, I'll be right here ready to listen." Once more, the area was silent, the hero of one village standing with his back to the caring gaze of the other, neither moving for what seemed like an eternity, though in reality it was only mere moments. Then it happened, and it only cemented the concern into Samui's heart as it in turn dropped at Naruto's actions. He simply turned his head the smallest of amounts towards her, before shrugging her arm off and walking forward once more.

"I already told you, there's nothing to talk about." The elite Jounin paused here briefly, turning to completely look at his counterpart for a brief moment, motioning her to hurry up. "Now come on, this investigation won't finish itself, and I didn't come all the way here to leave empty handed." And with that, he turned, their conversation over for all intents and purposes, spinning on his heel and leaving a slightly irritate and frustrated Samui behind him as he went.

"…Not cool, Naruto." She fell in behind him, the two shinobi from different villages falling back into step as they moved across the frozen land, not making it more than thirty or so feet before they were once again halted, this time though not by each other, but by a small crow that landed on Naruto's now outstretched arm. Raising an eyebrow in brief question, the man undid the small scroll attached to its leg, scanning over its contents quickly, before he handed it to his female companion, allowing her to do the same.

No words needed to be spoken at that point, both of their minds were steady and their orders clear. It appeared as though Shikamaru's team had had the most luck out of all of them, stumbling upon what seemed to be the entrance to a base of sorts, the outlying architecture greatly resembling that of the late Orochimaru's. One blonde nodded to the other, before they shot into the thinning trees, chakra enhanced limbs carrying them swiftly through the leaves.

Now was not the time to linger.

* * *

The base itself was quite unassuming in stature, and if one didn't know exactly what they were to be looking for, it would have been quite easy to miss. As it was, Shikamaru and his team didn't actually find the place on purpose, stumbling onto its entrance in a freak of events following Chouji dropping a bag of chips, if one were able to believe it. In itself, the place looked eerily similar to the same base that Naruto himself had raided years ago while he had been in ANBU, the resemblance striking in nature. It was almost spooky, but then again, all of Orochimaru's old bases tended to have a similar layout, the man was nothing if not a man of routine.

However, knowing the habits of a dead man did nothing to put his mind at ease, and he was still on edge, though he was doing an amiable job of hiding it from his peers. It wouldn't do for someone of his reputation to be having second thoughts on an operation just because of his past. A shinobi was a tool of the Hokage, the swift and striking blade that would cut down all enemies of his village, sworn to defend it from all threats both foreign and domestic. This was his creed, this was his life. This was the life he had chosen, it would be going back on his own word to contradict himself, and if there was one thing that Uzumaki Naruto did, is was keep his word.

The man in question yanked himself from his thoughts, landing near silently beside the kneeling Shikamaru, Samui landing just as softly to his left as he approached the lazy genius. He took note that his team was the last ones to arrive, though by the looks of things, Omoi and Ino had only just beaten them. Kneeling next to his friend and subordinate, and after already creating a small mass of Kage Bunshin to secure the perimeter, Naruto pulled a scroll from his back pouch and began preparing a nullification seal while talking. "So, what's the situation?"

"Honestly, the whole thing's going to be a pain. Looks like we've found the main entrance, though knowing Orochimaru I'd guarantee there are other ways out, but after scouting we couldn't find any. This entrance is sealed up, but at the same time while I'm no seal master even I can tell it's just a detection one, nothing too nasty from the looks of it." The shadow-walker paused briefly, looking up to his teammate and de-facto leader now that Asuma was gone, before he sighed briefly and continued, laying it all on the table. "Naruto… I don't like this. The whole thing screams that it's a trap. It was way too easy to track whoever is doing this to here."

The clone that had been discretely inspecting the seal placed upon the large boulder covered entrance dispelled, granting the blonde shinobi of Konoha all the knowledge he needed to continue his own counter seal, speaking with confidence as he carefully and skillfully wrote out each and every individual Kanji that was necessary for what he had planned. "Yeah, I don't like it either. From the way the reports sounded, it was only a few discrete disappearances here and there, but once we showed up and began actively looking for the culprit, the attacks rapidly increased."

Naruto sighed, the writing now done for the seal he had crafted, clutching it in his hand tightly before he turned back to the Nara heir, speaking softly and conveying his plan. "I agree with you on one thing though, there's no doubt in my mind that this _is_ a trap. And with that knowledge, I'm going to do the one thing they'd least expect us to do, if we knew it was a trap." With that revelation, the blonde stood, straightening his back as he did so and lightly pushed his way past Samui, the woman completely surprised by the turn of events. She gave him an incredulous look, her mouth slightly agape as he moved past her.

"You know it's a trap and you're just going to walk in the front door?" All she received was a nod from her friend and counterpart as he marched past her and up to the barrier, before she sighed and gave a slight shrug, only half listening as the man behind her muttered something along the lines of 'troublesome blondes' and how they never failed to make his life hell. Honestly, she couldn't have cared less at this point. The sooner this mission was over the sooner she could find out just what in the fuck had changed Naruto so drastically that he had gone from a clever thinker and strategist, to someone who was no cold and shut off, making his plans on the fly as he operated.

None of the shinobi watching the exchange were given any more time to lament on the fact that one of their powerhouses had just opted to open the literal front door of a knowingly hostile base as he raised his arm back and applied the seal he'd created to the door. The reaction of his seal itself wasn't anything to truly write home about, the small tag he had placed glowing briefly as it stuck to the boulder, blue lines of written Kanji exploding out from it in all directions as it countered and nullified all of the defensive seals that crisscrossed its surface, before finally a large crack split down the center of the rock itself, it falling in half to either side of the man.

There was no need to signal the rest of the modified teams that now approached him, and in that regard he was slightly grateful. Being in the well-oiled and effective ANBU Units for so long had been nice, but it was nice to not have to give an affirmative signal for literally every action that was passed. The Last Uzumaki began speaking with authority just after the last member of the investigation team had closed with him, his voice carrying and filled with the power and confidence of years of complete missions, both combat oriented and not. There was no room for debate in this, it wasn't a democracy, he'd forced his team into the lion's den and in doing so, he'd taken full responsibility for the mission.

"Same designated teams as before. Split and take a passage, I'll be sending a Kage Bunshin with you that will disperse in the case of an emergency. Move through the base taking whatever you deem necessary to mission completion, destroy the rest. Rendezvous here no later than twenty minutes from now." There was brief moment of silence as just for a second, Naruto's old ANBU persona of Lynx shined through from the shadows. It wasn't off-putting, on the contrary it was nice to have a definite leader in charge for a change, someone with the knowledge and experience to back up their plan. The Uzumaki Heir glanced around to the faces in the room briefly, making sure to get a nod from each and every one as his clones appeared next to them.

He spoke then, a single word that sprung each group into action as they all moved in unison, each team blazing their own trail down one of the three labyrinth like passages. "Move!" Naruto was no longer concerned with the actions of his team. They were picked for the mission for a reason, and he would trust in that, the cobalt eyed killer knew they were capable. And besides that, there was something here that was more sinister at play, something that pertained to only him. It was something that did warrant his immediate attention, but for some reason he had no idea what it was, not even the slightest clue as to what was truly at play.

But this mission, he'd been noticing things, at first thinking that maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but now that Naruto was in the base itself he was sure of it. The passage he was moving along, it was a carbon copy of the one he'd blasted through so many years before with an ANBU team consisting of Boar and Tiger, though at the time the mission had had a double purpose of serving as his Captain-Class entrance test. That had been the same mission where he had captured Tayuya, the woman he'd one day come to love though at the time he had no idea of it.

But that was merely the thing that had cemented his thoughts that something was definitely off about this mission, the first had been much more subtle, though it had still thrown him off. It had only been a few days prior, he and Samui were investigating one of the disappearances, when while walking down the street a child had slammed into Naruto's leg, falling on his back in the process. The blonde from Konoha had of course reached down to help the kid up, but he saw something that had frozen him cold. Around the boy's neck was a long, blue scarf. One that was strikingly similar to the one he wore around his own waist as a sash in memory of his fallen pseudo-brother.

Naruto wasn't a fool, he knew it wasn't the same one, but still, the resemblance was scary. There had been other things throughout the mission that were throwing him off as well. A particular flute melody here, an odd scent there, it was all reminding him of three people, his three largest failures, a monument to his past sins. It was unsettling, to say the least. It was these small things that had set him on edge this entire time, from the start of the mission to now, as he raced through the compound he was almost mortified of what he might find waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

But then, all too suddenly, his and Samui's mad dash down the path was ended as the Last Uzumaki blew open the door at the end of the hall, kicking it down to reveal a very large and open area, almost reminiscent of an arena. But that wasn't the end of his mild surprise, which would be that the rest of his team looking at him with equally bewildered faces as they too emerged from separate passages, all respectively from the ones they'd traversed into in the first place. There was no time for idle chatter though, as laughter began emanating from one side of the room, the one cloaked in shadow, causing all the ninja in the room, both Kumo and Konoha alike, to look at the cause.

Emerging from the shadows and walking out into the light was a what appeared to be a man of average height, dressed in a long and loose fitting maroon robe, with dark yellow, red, and purple eyes that covered the hood making it look almost like a serpentine head. However, the investigation team wasn't given long to look over the hood as it was abruptly thrown back, revealing the head of the man that had once been known as Yakushi Kabuto, though whether or not he could still be referred to that name was uncertain.

His body was fully converted, changed somehow, his appearance having becoming starkly similar to Orochimaru's, so much so that for a brief moment, Naruto himself was concerned he was actually fighting the deceased Snake Sannin himself, before he corrected his mistake. In addition to the changes to his skin, Kabuto's eyes had become yellow with slitted pupils, around which were his former master's characteristic purple markings, once more making him look something like a serpent. A long, white snake was coiled around his abdomen, almost looking to be fused with his body itself.

None of this was particularly worrisome to Naruto, though. No, what was the most concerning to him was the man's head, or rather, the chakra he could sense emanating from it, and the small physical details that could only have meant one thing, if his time studying the various Senjutsu Arts was of any merit. Kabuto had somehow unlocked the ability to take in and mold natural charka within himself, no doubt learning it from the snakes at the famed Ryuchi Cave, the snake equivalent of Mt. Myōboku. There were only a few noticeable physical alterations, the markings around his eyes, the four horns on the back of his head, and brille that covered his inner eyes.

"Well, well, well. It's finally happened! Years of planning, research, and so many deaths went into this single moment, and it's finally here!" The crazed man trailed off for a moment, watching idly as the shinobi on the other side of the room continued to stare him down, their bodies tensed and their guards on high. "Tell me, _Uzumaki Naruto_ …" his name was said with mirth and spat out like venom, the white scaled man continuing. "Did you like all the little gifts I left you around the towns?"

The man questioned grit his teeth, his jaw tightening as his right hand clenched and relaxed, wanting nothing more than to drive a Kaze no Karitoriki into this man's heart at that very moment, but there was still something off, something so very wrong about this situation and he just couldn't place it. "So the scarf, the melodies, and the drinks I saw at the bar, all that was you, then. And I'm to assume that all these disappearances were to draw me out here as well?" Naruto was cut off as the man abruptly raised his arm out in a placating and silencing manner, cutting him off as he began to speak on his own, walking closer to the man on the opposite side yet stopping several yards away as he did so.

"Yes, yes! But don't guess at everything… that takes all the fun out of it. I've always been fond of the old ninja tales… an over-excitable villain revealing their whole plot to the hero just before the final showdown, so why don't you humor me here." Kabuto licked his lips rapidly, repeating the motion over and over again, once again making himself look like the serpent he'd become as he began telling his tale. It was ironic, really, as he went through his story, the spy of many identities had no idea which was his own, and had eventually latched onto the one person that had given his life true purpose, only to have that man ripped away from him a mere few years later.

But it wasn't over, and for whatever reason, Naruto felt almost compelled to let the man finish his tirade, even going as far as to tell Shikamaru to stand down when the man had begun to formulate a plan to apprehend the hostile. The white snake in front of him however, had taken no notice, instead opting to continue his tale, eventually reaching the part when Naruto and Jiraiya had led the final assault on Otogakure so many years prior, killing his master in the process and eliminating his purpose for living. But it had been a double edged sword, because in the death of one purpose, another had been given life, his new mission and goal being to kill Jiraiya and avenge Orochimaru.

But once more, disaster had befallen the wayward student of the Snake Sage, when the gallant Toad Summoner had fallen at the hands of Pain in Amegakure. It was at this point in time that Samui was unable to contain the small, slight gasp that escaped her lips, she hadn't known about Jiraiya's death, it had been kept a somewhat large village secret, people not speaking of it outside the walls itself, this serving both to maintain Konoha's image, and also out of respect for the man himself. The latter was stupid though, it wasn't what the man would have wanted to be remembered as, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

And then, just like that, Kabuto's journey had changed once more, what better way to avenge his master and savior, than to kill the last remaining familial tie of the one who had slain him? The student of one Sannin would kill the student of the other, this had become his new purpose in life, one which he was finally going to fulfill today. All of his life's work was coming together, he was going to prove his worth here and take the life of the so called 'Hero of the Leaf', but it was going to be done in a way that was sick to all those in the room but he himself.

Before Kabuto could finish his final, culminating statement though, Naruto's arms blurred to his chest, flashing through hand seals faster than the eye could follow, catching even his allies off guard as he moved. And then, just when it appeared he would be launching an attack towards the man who had seemingly sworn to destroy him, he did the craziest thing and spun on his heel, driving his hand into the ground and releasing his chakra, a wall of clear liquid bursting from the ground in a perfect line, shooting up into the sealing as he called out the name of his technique. "Kekkie Fuuinjutsu: Shintō Shinai Ekitai Kabe! (Barrier Sealing Technique: Impenetrable Liquid Wall!)".

Upon seeing the questioning looks of his teammates, but being unable to hear them due to the all-encompassing barrier technique that now separated them he let out a small, sly grin. "Sorry, this is my fight. I'm gonna have to ask you to sit this one out." Naruto was cut off once more, though this time it was by the mad, cackling laughter of the crazed man on the opposite end of the room, the blonde turning back to face him as he ranted and raved about how he 'knew that was what he was going to do', or something similar. That wasn't good, if that was true, then this guy probably had a really good grasp on his techniques, meaning he wasn't going to be holding back from the beginning.

The Last Uzumaki took a deep breath as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, drawing the natural energy of the cave complex inside him, the dirt, trees, grass, and even the animals that walked the dirt above all granting him a small portion of their energy. He pulled it all inside of him, mixing it, molding it with the immense and vast ocean of chakra that he already had, his arms crossed in front of him in complete concentration as he focused on his technique, finally opening his eyes to reveal the orange pigmentation and bar-like iris's that denoted his own master of the Toad Style of Senjutsu.

It was only because of his increased sense that he was able to feel the ground below him shaking and trembling as something, or rather three something forced their way through the earth itself, exploding out of the ground and coming to rest in front of Kabuto. Naruto's eyes visibly widened at this, there was only one technique that he knew of that utilized coffins in any portion of it, and suddenly everything that he had been experiencing for the last week all came together and made sense, the scarf, the flute, the alcohol, everything. He swallowed, the lump in his throat catching and his hold over his Sage Mode wavering before it fell completely.

So, that's what this was, he was to face the monument to his own sins. He… Naruto didn't know if he could do this, Kabuto had definitely done his research, that was more than true. But he was given no more time to lament on it, no more time to think on it as each coffin burst open, the left one, then the right, and finally the one in the center, and like the blonde shinobi had guessed they each held the embodiment of each one of his greatest failures.

The first appearance had short spiky brown hair, black eyes, and a small chip in his tooth. Atop his forehead was a beaten and battered Hitai-Ite, a long blue scarf that he'd worn when he was alive falling around his neck. His other clothes were simple, consisting of grey shorts and a yellow shirt with a red Konoha symbol printed on it. A pale green jacket with a dark green stripe down the middle covering his upper body. The second person to show was easily the largest of the three, being the only adult male in the group, and was built accordingly.

The now revived man was tall with fair skin. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he had tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face while alive. There were two red lines under his eyes which extended, going all the way to the bottom of his face. He was donned in his usual attire which consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. But the most notable aspect was the man's horned Hitai-Ite, which bore the symbol for 'Oil'.

But the third and final member of the dead trio that emerged from her coffin was the most shocking to the blonde, though each and every one of them had pained him to see them so. She wasn't dressed in the clothes that he had last seen her in though, which was odd considering that the other two were. No, the woman he had once loved was dressed in the clothing that was little more than rags that she had worn while a kunoichi of Oto, a black shirt under a tan tunic with elbow-length sleeves that bore the symbol of the Sound Four on the hem, and black skin-tight shorts.

She wore black arm-warmers, black shinobi sandals with calf-length leg warmers covered by bandages, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around her waist. To keep her wild red hair out of the way, the woman also wore a black hat with pipe-like stripes and bandaged sides, keeping her bangs in place while the rest is pushed back behind her ears to trail down her back. In life, she had brown eyes that were accentuated by her eyelashes extending into the corners of her eyes and was usually sporting an impassive expression on her face, though now hers and the other reincarnated men's eyes were a cold a soulless black. But despite all that, and even the time that had passed, her voice still reached out and caressed Naruto's ears.

"Shithead?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that's the end of this chapter! Please don't hate me for what is to come, I promise that it all has a purpose and it isn't just to be cruel and angsty, it all serves a higher purpose, you'll see. Anyways, bit of a shorter chapter, but I didn't feel the need to drag it out on and on for no reason. Also, last bit I need to pass, I'm going on vacation! I'll be gone for about two or three weeks, give or take, and while I will still be writing a little bit, don't expect a crazy amount of updates. Anyways…**

 **That's all I got. Out.**


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